The routine of being healthy can be somewhat tedious at times. I’m noticing that although I sometimes just go through the motions and question ‘whether it’s all worth it’…someone is always watching and it’s definitely worth it. It feels good to live a healthy lifestyle. Better mood, more energy and more opportunities as I’m not bound by physical limitations. But the discipline required for the day to day can become tiresome. Does it really matter if I eat breakfast? Take out for dinner would be so much easier. I don’t need to run today, I can just go tomorrow. Or maybe this weekend. The gym is going to be crowded, I don’t really feel like dealing with it. The dogs are going to interrupt if I try to workout at home. Why am I craving potato chips if my body doesn’t need them? It’s obviously a sign that I need potato chips! My natural inclination is almost never to do the harder thing. I want to do the easiest and most comfortable thing. I have to convince myself to do harder and less convenient things all day long. Over and over. Every single day. Gets easier as routines form. But the question does tend to cross my mind; “does this really even matter?”
Remember the saying “do as I say, not as I do”? Yeah. Does anyone really do that? Is there anyone who really does anything and adopts it as a lifestyle simply because someone told them to? I think I’m more one to emulate the behavior of people I respect and admire. That also gives me the feeling of autonomy. No one told me to do something. I made the choice. I’m more likely to follow through with something if I feel like it was my own bright idea. I think this is the case for most people. If you look at someone living the life you want, you think “how did they get that?” This is not to say that we should put the people we admire onto pedestals and assume they are infallible. They are not. They are human. But maybe there are some things that other people are doing that you would like to attain as well. Like, ‘Hey Jones’…what kind of fertilizer are you using on the lawn to make the grass so green?’
I recently had an experience with my daughters that really shed some serious light onto this idea that what I do and what they see definitely matters. We were sitting at the dining room table and my older daughter said that they’d been learning in school about the importance of eating breakfast. The teacher told them that most parents set a bad example by skipping it and opting for just coffee instead. She said she raised her hand to let her teacher know “not my mom. She always eats breakfast. She sets a good example.” Back at our dining table, my younger daughter responds “yeah, because mom always sets a good example with everything.” I adjusted my halo and basked in these glowing revelations. Of course that is absolutely false. I screw up all the time. Daily. But I took that moment to think “they’re actually watching me!” That realization has been incredibly motivating for me. I like my girls to see what is possible. And it made me think that if they’re watching, who else is watching? I’m just a regular, average person. Hopefully the choices I make to be healthy or achieve different physical accomplishments make some other regular, average people think “if she can do that, I probably can too.” The ripple effect of being a living example. Our small actions in our own lives can lead to others making small actions in their own lives. This happens over and over so that our small positive actions result in positive actions far beyond what we can see. It is kind of a bummer that we don’t necessarily get to see the results. But I think just the awareness that we can cast positivity out like a stone onto a pond which creates this little positivity ripple is an incredibly inspiring thought. Living a good and healthy life means you’re a good and healthy example. You’re casting all these ripples that are bound to roll over others who will cast their own ripples. Kinda makes it all seem worth it, doesn’t it?