Do you ever lack motivation? You just don't really want to go workout for whatever the reason? Maybe you're just a little too tired. Maybe you've had a long day and it's just one more thing to do before you get to relax. Maybe it's too cold, and you just want to stay inside where it's warm. Or maybe, just maybe you just don't feel like it.
Well, this was me last Saturday. I DID NOT FEEL LIKE WORKING OUT. I had no other excuse. I had gotten a good night's sleep the night before. My day was pretty tame for a Saturday. I wasn't overly busy, so I certainly had time to fit it in. Nope ~ there was no excuse (not that there are too many good ones!) I just didn't feel like it. BUT unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) I made a small mistake. My daughter loves to go up to the studio I work at and get on the treadmill or mess around with the weights and other equipment. I had promised her that we would do that on Saturday. I didn't say maybe or we'll see. I used the words, "I promise". So you can believe that when lunch time came and went, she was all over me about going to workout.
I had just taken her to Fleet Feet to be fitted for new tennis shoes and she was chomping at the bit ready to try them out. Being the great mom that I am (NOT!) I tried every excuse in the book. I told her I was tired and wanted to take a nap. Of course she said, "Great, we'll go after!" I told her I needed to get some work done. She reminded me that I had already finished my work. I quickly new nothing was going to get me out of it, especially when she said, "But you promised!"
I have been very careful of not ever promising to anything that I didn't come through on. So, I took a deep breath and said okay. After thinking it over for a minute or two, I began to smile. I looked at her and said, "Thanks for being my motivation! You're getting me to workout even when I'm not really feeling it. I'm so glad I have you as my daughter!" Of course, she beamed and I knew at that moment what an impact we both had on each other. I was there to show her the right way to be healthy and develop healthy habits, and she was there to motivate me and give me that added push to do the right thing too.
Emily was happy because she was able to try out her new running shoes on the treadmill and "burned more calories than ever before". I love that she is wanting to do things that I do like running and working out. It makes me very happy.
So you see, motivation does come in all shapes and sizes, and mine comes in a 5 foot 2, 11-year-old fabulous daughter named Emily.