I want to envision myself leading the perfect healthy life. My diet, my exercise, my temper , and my hair all just cooperate perfectly. Every. Single. Day. I once proudly told a mentor that I was a perfectionist. Without hesitation she replied, “Well, I can always tell when someone has a problem with dishonesty.”
Because perfect is dishonest. It is not a true part of being human. Sit down to hear me say this: You will never get it perfect. This applies to all your hard work on fixing your spouse too. It is slightly disappointing news, right before it is freeing.
Two facts were true this week. I had Covid and I really need my exercise time for my mental health. There was a time when the sudden intrusion of illness, or any big life event, would mean I would skip exercise because I couldn’t do it “perfectly”. By this I would mean that I couldn’t go to the HIIT class, or I couldn’t give it my usual effort.
But this week I stopped expecting myself to exercise and just considered a goal of “body movement”. I wasn’t sick enough to be stuck in bed, so I put shoes on my feet, and good music in my ears, and walked a mile outside on a “photo walk”. This is a walk where I take pictures of things in nature that I find beautiful. It is good for the soul.
Then I did 12 squats x 2 on a bench, 12 lunges x2 on a flight of stairs, 12 toe taps x2 on a parking bumper, and 12 tricep dips x2 on a garden fountain. There are many things on a walk can be used for strength training and making your own gym is creative and fun!
I then used my Tabata app timer to jog a minute, walk a minute, for the mile back to my home.
It wasn’t my best workout. It was far from perfect. But the truth is that right now my body is not at its best. I’m not perfect. But adding gentle movement to my day is always a win.
