Walktales; a perspective
As humans we get used to things in a certain way. Our brains are conditioned to search for patterns and familiarity from a very young age. The security suits us as children as well as the adults around us.
Even in families such as mine, doing different things just meant being different from others; but eventually it became a way of being for us. Strangely, as an adult if you were to ask me how I would go back and break the cycle, I have no answer. But I do know that today I do things very differently and sometimes wonder where I learnt this other way.
Before this preamble turns into a ramble; let me share a little story with you. To give you perspective, I am going to have to take a run back in time.
Dad was never into sports or regular physical activity other than occasional bursts of enthusiasm. Mom was into competition level sports, not one but three and then after that was done, she did a smooth 180 and became the most slothful person I have ever met. Needless to say, I never went down that path and those few times one of them tried to push me, they did so without much conviction.
Side note: I also inherited their tendencies to be overweight and their passion for food and alcohol.
In my teenage years and beyond; there were times when I would worry about my weight and physical appearance. At these times I would do something to get it under control. Sometimes it worked and most times I gave up after minimum progress.
A few years ago I hit rock bottom and yet struggled to find the will and energy in me to push myself and actually do anything. Every few days I would give myself a goal and be happy if I managed it over 50% of the time.
Until one day - I was invited to join a walking challenge on the Fitbit community and for those five days I was a different person. After the challenge ended, I decided to compete with myself and beat the numbers of the previous week. The week after that I did it again. I was thriving on competition.
In those three short weeks, I found words that had never touched me before. Words like discipline, resilience, fortitude, priorities. I discovered concepts like self care, inner strength, come what may and so many more. Before I knew it, this seeped into every aspect of my life and I was changed irrevocably.
With it also came a revelation of how much I had been missing in life just because I was willing to let things be. The day I made myself a priority, I lost a lot of nonsense from my life and gained a lot of good.
It wasn’t just finding a new side of me; it was realising I was more than I had ever allowed myself to be.
I was but a shadow, but now I was whole!
