When I met my husband ten years ago there were two things that seemed set in stone. One, he never drank white milk, and two, he went to the gym every morning to work out. That was just part of life. When we were dating, I met him at the gym at 6:30 so we could work out together before breakfast and class. When we were married and had kids, he hit the gym at 6am, even if he'd been up all night because the kid was teething.A year ago he was hitting the gym twice a day, swimming in the morning and weight lifting with friends at lunch. (Side Note: He looked amazing!)
Now... not so much. I don't what started the slow slide to sloth. Maybe it was the cold weather in February. Maybe it was his lifting buddy moving away. Maybe it was one to many mornings where he had to be in the office at 5am and couldn't force himself out of bed at 3am to workout.
Whatever the case, it's been months since he hit the gym. Every night I hear the same line as he sets his alarm clock, "I'm starting to work out again tomorrow."
Every morning the alarm goes off at 4:30am, he plods across the room, and resets it for 6:30. Every morning. For months. Waking me up.... Every. Morning. For. Months!
This morning I finally kicked him out of bed. "Go workout."
"I'll start next week."
"That's what you said last week."
"I mean it!" he protested as he rolled over, stealing the blanket.
"That's what you said in August." I tugged the blanket away from him and sent DH to the gym.
The truth is, the hardest thing to do is to get back to a good habit after quitting.
The easiest thing to do is to make excuses for why you can't work.
I can't write today because:
- I have a headache
- My "Muse" isn't talking today
- I need to wash dishes
- Facebook games are too distracting
- I need to catch up on last night's TV I recorded
- I'm waiting to hear from my agent/publisher/beta-reader/crit-partner
... and the list goes on. There is always a reason NOT to put your butt in the chair, your hands on the keyboard, and just write the **** book already!
Getting back to writing after a break is harder than editing, harder than querying, harder than writing that first awful draft. It's not worth the pain.
Your writing today might be awful. You might have a headache (I do!). You might have other things you want to do.
Put your butt in the chair. Set the timer for thirty minutes. Write.
Any questions?
Soldier in the photo is not mine (sorry I couldn't find a good one of him - DH likes to delete photos of himself). Photo courtesy of and copyright to the original photojournalist. Image found HERE.
Hey, I was just trying to write about butt in chair this morning... except that blogger is evil and won't save my post, much less actually post it.
ReplyDelete*grumble grumble*
But you are so right about getting back into the habit of things, it can be difficult, even if you know it's good for you.
For the record, I don't know how you could stand waking up at 430 every morning for no reason. You are a saint. ;)
This is so very true. Ugh. I have the same issue with workouts though I'm making progress. It's such a struggle though, and writing really is the same way.
ReplyDeleteGood for you kicking hubby out of bed. This post gave me a kick to go revise for 15 minutes on my break too, so thanks for that. ;-)
So true! Early this month I was exercising four times a week. Doing awesome. Then I pulled a muscle. Told myself I would take a few days off, let it recover. Haven't exercised since. So easy to find excuses.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kick in the butt.
Tere- I do love my husband. The alarm is my signal to hog all the bed covers back. ;o)
ReplyDeleteJamie- I resolved my work out issues by getting a dog. He needs walking, so I walk.
Mary- I did the same thing last winter. It was to cold... so we didn't workout for three months. o.0
Yes, ma'am!
ReplyDeleteHow did you know I was already formulating excuses for tonight's session:)
*shakes head* Liana, dear, you're a gem. I NEEDED this today. Probably, this is /really/ what's been plaguing me for the last two months.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Thankyou thank you.
Wow those excuse sound familiar. And here I thought I was being original! *grin* It is an ever-repeating cycle for me to lose my writing routine. I love posts like these to kick me back in gear.
ReplyDelete