On Motivation

When things are all sparkly and shiny and new, and you're all excited to start a new routine, let's admit it — it's a lot easier to maintain a four-times-a-week running schedule than it is a month-and-a-half in. 





It's also a lot easier to be excited about a period of self growth and embarking on new adventures alone when you feel you have the world in front of you. Then, slowly, the excitement fades and you're sort of left with this feeling that life, as you knew it, really is very different.

I'm at that point now where I'm simply trying to maintain motivation to stretch beyond where I'm comfortable. Take today for example: it's thundering, humid, miserable. I haven't eaten and all I want to do is cuddle with my cat. But what am I going to do come 3:45? Go to the gym and get my ass on a treadmill. Why? Because I have a goal and I am going to accomplish it.

The same can be said for tomorrow, and this weekend, and the weeks and months to come. There will be situations that right now, I am not instantly comfortable with. But will it be to my benefit in the future? As a single, 20-something female? Absolutely. It may take a glass of wine to get me out the door tomorrow night and meet with a group of other 20-somethings, none of which I know, but hey, the challenge comes when you're frozen by your fear and what you instantly deem "uncomfortable."

Real change, though, I'm learning, comes when you push past that fear and that temporary feeling of discomfort. Amazing things happen when you do.