Falling Off the Wagon

By Doug Betts
Director of Training, Core Fitness Solution

Have you ever fallen off the proverbial diet and exercise “wagon?” It can be tough to stay the course when the results seem to stagnate, or worse, back slide.

Here's a quote from a song by Robert W. Service that seems to fit appropriately in such a case:

"And so in the strife of the battle of life
It’s easy to fight when you're winning;
It’s easy to slave, and starve and be brave,
When the dawn of success is beginning.
But the man who can meet despair and defeat
With a cheer, there’s the man of God’s choosing;
The man who can fight to Heaven’s own height
Is the man who can fight when he’s losing."

There will always be times when your progress decelerates, stops, or
reverses, but remember to keep moving. As much as we like to think of the
process as science and the results as a foregone conclusion, sometimes
life gets in the way. Murphy's Law sometimes takes over your life. Dave
Ramsey - my favorite radio talk show host - would say that "Murphy" has
moved into your spare bedroom!

When short-term stuff starts getting in the way, we have to shift our
focus further out. This way, we realize that small deviations can be
overcome with small corrections. The fastest way between two points may be
a straight line, but that's only a theoretical construct. In reality,
straight lines don't exist. When you drive your car, you have constant
left and right movements of your steering wheel. Likewise, the space
shuttle (perhaps the most precise piece of machinery ever created) spends
an estimated 97% of its time correcting small deviations in its course.

There will always be setbacks. Just accept them as part of the process
(just like soreness was a part of the process when you first started!).
They are inevitable. The good news is that they are also temporary. Keep
trudging on!

When things get rough for me, I like to picture "Murphy" getting really
frustrated because no matter what kinds of twists, turns, setbacks, or
monkey wrenches he throws at me, he just can't get me to quit.

Don't let "Murphy" win!