Last night while I was in bible study, the group leader was talking about chores and how we stress ourselves out over them. How we work ourselves up so much over the fact we have to complete the chore at hand. All of this stress and us working ourselves up over the chore, makes us end up hating the chore and makes up not want to do it… He went on to say that we have a choice to make to enjoy the chore and let it be a time of enjoyment for us instead.
As he sat there and talked (he was talking about actual household chores) all I could think about is the gym. Back in my “fat girl” days the gym was a chore to me. I hated going. I would stress myself out over actually getting up, getting my shoes on and going to the gym. I would let EVERY little excuse stop me from making it to the gym that day. It wasn’t until I really buckled down and started losing weight that I decided to make a choice to love the gym instead of hating it so much. Once I started to fall in love with the gym, the classes it offered, the people I met while I was there, learning to use the equipment properly; that is when I started to see less stress in my life. I started to find myself at the gym once I learned to love it instead of hating going. I now use the gym as my “Me” time and it is my time to reflect on everything going on, it’s my time to praise and worship God, it’s my time to just not think at all, it’s my time to just focus on me and no one else… and I love it! Yes, sometimes I get mom guilt for going and taking Caleb to the daycare, sometimes I get guilt for not going out with my friends because I am at the gym, and much more… but when I walk in that gym, I leave that guilt at the door!
Let me give you permission to be selfish, it is okay! You have to give yourself time alone to work on you so that you are able to help others. When you are flying the flight attendants tell you, “if the oxygen mask drops please place it on yourself 1st and then help your children”, it’s not about being selfish, it’s about taking care of yourself so that you are able to take care of those around you.
I have a reminder taped to my computer that says “Sometimes you have to do what’s best for you and your life, not what’s best for everybody else.” It might be a harsh statement to take in, but it reminds me that it is okay to stop worrying about everyone else and worry about myself. It is okay for me to make time to go to the gym and it’s okay that I enjoy that time… I need it… you need it!
Anyways, back to the bible study…. You have a choice to make, you can either keep stressing out and hating your chores (eating clean and working out) or you can make the choice to enjoy your chores and have that stress lifted! The choice is yours!!!
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