People are really romantic about the beginning of things. A fresh start. A clean slate. The world of possibilities. But regardless of what new adventure you’re embarking on, you still bring you into every new beginning you have in life.
So exactly how different can it possibly be?
It’s all any of us want. A fresh start and a clean slate. Like that’s going to be any easier. Just ask the guy pushing the boulder up the hill. Greek mythology has it that Sisyphus was a sinner condemned in Tartarus. He was punished in Hades for his misdeeds in life by being condemned eternally to roll a heavy stone up a hill. As he neared the top, the stone rolled down again so that his labor was everlasting and futile.
Many times when I have fallen off my track to be “psuedo” healthy and workout, I make the horrible mistake of starting over too fast, going too hard, way to soon. My mind tells me that I can pick up exactly where I left off and simply start running or lifting again. #1 I have to remember that I am not as young as I once was so therefore I cannot do some of the things I used to do. #2 my ego tells me that i can just start back running like I did 15 years ago with zero problems. Boy let me tell you, I have been wrong so many times on this. So this time I changed it up a bit. I set my ego aside and simply started over with walking. Sure I hope to build my way up, but what is the rush and at what cost.
How many of us have felt like we were moving forward, but at the same time making no progress? I think many people will tell you that it is a waste of energy to move but not make progress. I happen to think they are wrong. There is this notion that if you aren’t moving forward then you are not being effective. They will try to tell you the difference between being effective and being efficient. To be honest I have said those same things also, but I am learning that life is about perspective, timing, and location.
There are benefits to doing jumping jacks. There is a benefit to running on the treadmill or the elliptical machine. See I think often times we are measuring our progress by what is seen by others or what is externally seen. You can visually measure how far you’ve run, if you were on a trail or a track. You can see where you started and where you finished. But there is an internal benefit that is also valuable, whether you run outside or on a treadmill. The heart. The most important of all organs is being worked. It is being pushed. The lungs are being expanded and stretching themselves beyond the capacity they once were. So I would argue that the internal benefit is much greater than the exterior more noticeable one. So don’t let people tell you that movement is not progress. It simply depends on the perspective.
So no matter where you are, how hard you’ve fallen, or how low you have sunken. It is ok to start over by simply starting over.