Simmer at 33 Degrees

Last weekend I finally shed my coat and ventured out into a heatwave that overtook Wisconsin, Freezing. That’s right, it got all the way up to 33 degrees and boy did it feel good. Actually, the past 2 days have been above 40 and it’s felt seriously warm. The last 3 weeks or so have had many days where the high was in the single digits and the overnight low got down to almost -20 plus windchill. Perspective is everything. When you’ve been living in below 0 temperatures, it’s amazing how hot 30 degrees can seem. As a quick side note: we’re always asked why we spend January and February in Minnesota + Wisconsin…I don’t know, but that’s where the agent sends us, so we go. Wouldn’t it be nice to be in Florida, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.

One of my biggest pet peeves in life revolves around people that constantly complain that things aren’t fair. They moan and groan over how hard something is and want somebody to tell them that they don’t have to do it, or maybe you can lower your standards so it’s easier to achieve. We can all sympathize with this attitude to some degree, nobody enjoys pain, but that doesn’t mean we should create a lifestyle that obviates anything that causes it. I realize that sounds a little abstract so let me give you an example.

Two weeks ago my mother had her knee replaced. She’s been putting it off for years because she has been afraid of the recovery and whether it would actually make things better for her. Thankfully she decided to do it. I called her up a couple days ago to see how things were going. She started PT on Monday and her analysis of how things have been going…OUCH! They’ve already got her walking, going up and down stairs and doing extensions with her leg. The pain is extreme, she doesn’t look forward to it, but the PT won’t make it easier on her because there’s pain. In fact, if she only did things that weren’t painful, her mobility would never reach it’s full potential. There’s a reason for the pain and the end result makes the pain fully worth it. She has a perspective that makes the pain bearable, being able to walk.

Do you really want to achieve something? Do you have a goal? What do you want to do? Figure out what you want, once you’ve got that determined what do you need to do to achieve it? I’m training for a world record right now (I’ll be doing the most jumps in one minute on a unicycle). To do the record I’m having to train by doing something I hate, speed. My most hated aspect of competition was always speed jumping. It’s painful, not creative and a lot of work. Complaining about how much I hate speed isn’t going to make the record any easier to do. I’ve created a workout schedule where I’m practicing for the record after every show when I’m completely drained. I’m doing this because I want to make sure that I can do it every time I try.

When you have a goal, it’s amazing how much you can put up with to achieve it. Perspective makes all the difference. If you find yourself in a position where you’re complaining about something, stop and think about why you’re doing it? Is it going to help you achieve something? If so, focus on what you’re working toward and you’ll find it much easier to handle.

If you’re one of those people that constantly complain about exercise being boring, why don’t you try jump rope? There are a ton of different exercises that make it more interesting and can help you achieve your fitness/weight loss goals.