Is it a mirage or a real obstacle???

I was recently reading a comment on another blog and it got me thinking about the things we do to psych ourselves out of working out. This particular commenter was concerned that doing certain exercises has aged her body.

Well, really - is that likely??? I don't think so. Now, she may have overdone some things. And she could have injured herself. But doing a specific exercise is NOT going to make you age drastically.

But her comments got me thinking about the times that I have held myself back because of the possibility of causing more pain in my hip, or when I didn't have a decent lunch and was afraid I wouldn't have enough energy to do my workout, or the worry that my asthma might kick in and I'll start to get a little dizzy. (Now, this does happen on occasion, but I can usually control it if I concentrate on my breathing. Seriously - I've questioned whether I need to take it a lot easier when this happens, but I know what I need to do to overcome this challenge. I just need to do it.)

I think the fear of what might happen often keeps us from doing things we would otherwise enjoy doing. If I worried about what discomfort might follow a workout, I'd never work out. Because if we're pushing ourselves, there will always be a little discomfort while our bodies recover.

That fear is just a mirage. There will undoubtedly be some real obstacles that do creep up from time to time, but I think it's important that we really look at and analyze the obstacles we find in front of us. Are they real or just in our heads. If it's just in our heads, then we need to keep on going. Most of the time the obstacles we see are just mind games we play with ourselves.

So the thought for the day is: is it a mirage or a real obstacle? What's holding you back? Is it something that you need to make concessions for and plan to overcome? Or is it something that you're just using as an excuse to get out of working your body a little? Until you know what you're fighting against, you can't fight it. We should all take the time to see things for what they really are.

And for my "MOM" thoughts: this is a lesson for all our kids, too. It's very easy for children to let their fears keep them from trying new things and getting things done. (I swear my youngest has a HUGE psychological obstacle that keeps her from cleaning her room. We're still trying to overcome this!) But that's how they learn and grow. We need to encourage them to analyze their obstacles and be examples ourselves. If we listen to the fear and hold ourselves back, then we're not helping our kids.