On Sunday evening, I went golfing for the first time this year. One of my intentions for the day was to move my body in a way that would be fun, and as the day went on, golf sounded like a great fit. It was the most perfect, peaceful day to spend on the course. The weather was beautiful and we had so much fun exploring a course neither my husband nor I had ever been to before. As perfect as it turned out to be, we almost didn’t make it there. 

Earlier in the day, we spent time going to church, grocery shopping, and completing some projects around the house that took longer than we expected. By the time we were ready to go play golf, it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. My mind began to convince me that we wouldn’t have enough time, it wouldn’t be worth it to go, and that we should stay home instead. My husband, Cosmos, was sitting out on our deck and I went out to talk with him. He asked me if I wanted to go golfing, and I almost let all of those excuses that were stirring around in my brain out of my mouth. I was very close to telling him I didn’t think we’d have enough time, it wouldn’t be worth it, and we wouldn’t have fun. 

Isn’t it so interesting that my brain could “know” all of those things to be true when none of them had happened yet? In my mind, I was fully convinced that going to play golf would be a waste of time. But I also knew, somewhere else in there, that it was exactly what I wanted to do at that moment, we would have plenty of time, and I’d be much happier if we went to play. Now, I had a decision to make. Which part of my brain that “knew” the right answer would win? Which one would I listen to and allow to become reality? 

Because this isn’t the first time I’ve been aware of my brain trying to convince me that having fun wouldn’t be worth it, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I needed to take action toward the reality I wanted to live and not allow the one my brain was trying to create to take over. This looked like me saying yes to my husband, and immediately heading to my closet to change my clothes. Changing my clothes to match the action I know I want to take, which in this case was playing golf, is such a key habit for me to overcome the mental barriers that try to hold me back from taking action. The same can be said when it comes to any other type of workout. If I can take action and change my clothes before the other side of my brain takes over, I know I can convince myself to follow through on the activity that I truly want to do and will help me feel my best. 

Our minds are our most powerful tool. They have the ability to keep us safe from danger, help us reason, and come up with creative solutions to problems. They also have the ability to create problems that don’t exist, keep us safe from threats that aren’t threatening, and rob us from joy that is on the other side of taking a little bit of action. We tend to wait to take action until our thoughts and feelings about a situation change, but when we do this, we never end up taking action on the thing we want to do. Instead of waiting to move until you feel like it, move until the way you feel changes.

Xoxo

Coach Maggi