For Our Own Good

I know I am not alone in struggling to do things that are for my own good.  If I was then there wouldn't be so many diet advertisements and self help books out there.

I struggle with doing what is best for me, what makes me happiest in a lot of areas.  Like most people I feel amazing when I am exercising and eating right.  I feel light, energetic and even attractive.  So why do I so frequently fall off the proverbial wagon and have to start again?

Having a nice, tidy house with planned meals and clean, folded and put away laundry makes me content and happy.  I'm sure the other members of my household enjoy it as well.  Why then is it so hard to pull myself away from other time wasting activities to accomplish these things?

Both of the above examples are things that I'm sure a lot of people can relate to.  Maybe it is all rooted in physics.  Remember that a body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest?  See, I do remember something from school!  That is why when you are trucking along with an exercise (or any other kind) of program it seems easy(ish) to carry along with it.  But when you interrupt your routine, maybe you or a family member gets sick, or your life becomes so hectic that you put it aside for a moment, that it becomes an enormous feat of willpower to take it up again.

Well, I'm lumping blogging/writing in with exercise and house keeping.  I enjoy doing it, I love the results but for some reason it is hard to just sit down and start.  Looking back over my blog posts for the past year (there are embarrassingly few) I realized a couple of things.  One, I remember how I enjoyed writing them.  I enjoyed the process and also enjoyed the comments from the people who took the time to read them.  I am proud of the posts I put together.  No, I'm no Hemingway (and who wants to be that tortured anyway) but I think my posts were witty, concise and easy to read.  And that is enough for me.  Two, I really enjoyed going back and reading what I was thinking/doing at those moments in time.  Sort of like an electronic journal that I just happen to share with other people.

So one of my goals for the up coming year (I'm going to stop short of calling it a "resolution" because those tend not to stick) will be to write more.  Here on the blog, of course, but also just for myself.  Conveniently I got a new laptop for Christmas that will make writing easier and less likely to be postponed with excuses. Exercise for my body, writing for my mind, and laundry for my......well ability to cover my body with clean, mostly wrinkle-free clothes.

Happy New Year!

Melissa