What's your WHY?

CONNECTING WITH OUR ‘WHY’

The other morning when my alarm clock went off at 4:10am I found myself feeling irritable and resentful.  I remember saying to myself “Why do I have to get up and go to the gym?  Why can’t I just be one of those naturally skinny people who can eat whatever they want and not have to exercise?  I’m not losing any weight anyway…what’s the point?”  

After about 5 minutes of this ongoing dialogue I had to have a "Come to Jesus" meeting with myself.  You see, I’m a therapist and I know that the way we talk to ourselves dictates our mood and can set the tone for our whole day.  

At that moment I said to myself “self, remember, nobody is making you go to the gym!  You go because you choose to go.  You go because you want to be healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually.  You go because you have been blessed with good health and you want to protect what you have and prevent illness…after all, there are a lot of people who would like to be physically active and can’t.  You go because you believe that exercise is the best medicine for whatever ails you.  You go because you have friends at the gym and you really do enjoy being there.  You go because you never regret going once you’re there…you always regret not going”.  

Before I knew it, I was in my car driving to the gym and I was even a little excited about my upcoming workout.  When my workout was complete I felt grateful and renewed.

My "come to Jesus" meeting with myself got me to pondering the importance of being connected with our ‘why’.  It’s imperative that we be mindful of the reasons we choose to do something.  You see, when we become disconnected with our true ‘why’ it’s easy to get discouraged, to feel resentful and to become unmotivated.   Here’s the thing, we’re all human and sometimes our thoughts get us in a funk.  It happens.  

The good news is that you can doing something about it!  It’s the greatest thing to realize you have the power to influence your mood, your energy, your health and your thoughts!  Check-in with yourself regularly.  Ask yourself how you’re doing.  Remind yourself of your ‘why’.   Focus on non-scale victories.  Be your own cheerleader.  Find things to be grateful for daily…starting with your health.  

Create and live your best life!

Pam Peldo is a  a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Eating Psychology Coach in private practice. She discovered her love for fitness in 2011 and became a Certified Schwinn Spin Instructor in 2014. She believes we should approach health from a holistic perspective addressing mind, body and spirit.