Bad Days Happen

Sometimes I have to sidestep the activity of training, responsibilities and life in general to get a perspective on “what I’m doing now, and why?” Just the movement of getting from one place to another in Manhattan can distort my “well-intended reality”. There are days when a walk down 6th Avenue to 23rd Street feels claustrophobic, almost like there’s no room physically or energetically for me.

I wanted a retreat from everything last week, but I didn’t realize it until after a long grumpy hour at the gym. It was showing up in my body… knee hurt, elbow hurt, no spring in my legs for jumps and I felt really weak.  The scary part is that what I really felt like was “old”.

My brain doesn’t think I’m old, my body’s pretty good, but all last week everything on the outside was hammering away at my favorite commandment: “Never blame anything on your age”. It was a lot of work to stay away from that blame place. I knew the feeling would pass, but not quickly enough for me. There wasn’t a blog posting last week, now you know why.

So I headed up to the Catskills – thinking that alone time in the mountains should turn this around. It was cold, cloudy and rainy. Those kind of creepy dark days just like the middle of winter but without any festive holidays to perk them up. Five wet dark days and then the sun came out like there was never a gloomy day. Everything looked different, my mood slowly shifted, and the reality of handling good and bad days looked a whole lot simpler.

This is how simple it is – I’m not doing the things I do to be 20 again, but to be fully alive, every minute – until I’m not.

Staying fit and strong is a big part of aliveness. If you’re looking for another reason to embrace a healthy, fitness lifestyle, look at your aliveness. Look at it when you’re feeling good – remember that feeling and keep working out… it’ll carry you through the bad times until the sun comes out again.

Train your Body. Train your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. Never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider.