Weathering the Cold (Margie Gelbwasser)
Thursday was supposed to be sixty degrees, with a little rain in the morning. I was psyched. I'm so over the cold. Actually, to paraphrase Friends, one of my favorite shows ever, I was never under it. The cold and I are not friends, not even close acquaintances. Snow is an exception. I don't love it, but it's pretty, and my kid loves it so it gets a pass. So, yeah, back to Thursday. I was finally going to run again (something I haven't done since January), but the weather had other plans. It rained all day, and I don't think it even hit 50 degrees. So no running for me.
But here's the thing. I've been on this positivity kick lately. I've been reading and doing The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and it's been pretty life changing. Not that I've become a Pollyanna, but I've been working hard at not giving up on stuff. Even something like running. I could have plopped on my couch and blamed the cold and rain, but running makes me feel good. Moving makes me feel good. And I didn't want to make excuses about why I wasn't feeling good. Earlier that day, I downloaded positive songs onto my phone (my new favorite is Melissa Lawson's What if it All Goes Right?), and while my son and husband were at Scouts, I danced in my living room. It was just twenty minutes, but I was so glad I did it.
And this can all be brought back to writing too. It's so easy to say there's not enough time to write, to feel like if you can't write X number of words a day, then you've failed. But, why set yourself up for failure? So, it's a rough day and you can't get the word count you wanted. Or, maybe you have an idea but it's not translating onto paper the way you want it to so you throw up your hands in frustration. It doesn't have to be like that. Even a little bit of writing or plotting or whatever will get you out of that brain freeze (see what I did there by bringing it back to the cold?).
It's important to cut ourselves some breaks, even if the weather has no intention of doing this. Soon, I'll run again. In the meantime, I'll keep dancing.
But here's the thing. I've been on this positivity kick lately. I've been reading and doing The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and it's been pretty life changing. Not that I've become a Pollyanna, but I've been working hard at not giving up on stuff. Even something like running. I could have plopped on my couch and blamed the cold and rain, but running makes me feel good. Moving makes me feel good. And I didn't want to make excuses about why I wasn't feeling good. Earlier that day, I downloaded positive songs onto my phone (my new favorite is Melissa Lawson's What if it All Goes Right?), and while my son and husband were at Scouts, I danced in my living room. It was just twenty minutes, but I was so glad I did it.
And this can all be brought back to writing too. It's so easy to say there's not enough time to write, to feel like if you can't write X number of words a day, then you've failed. But, why set yourself up for failure? So, it's a rough day and you can't get the word count you wanted. Or, maybe you have an idea but it's not translating onto paper the way you want it to so you throw up your hands in frustration. It doesn't have to be like that. Even a little bit of writing or plotting or whatever will get you out of that brain freeze (see what I did there by bringing it back to the cold?).
It's important to cut ourselves some breaks, even if the weather has no intention of doing this. Soon, I'll run again. In the meantime, I'll keep dancing.
This is so great, Margie. I needed this one today. The hardest person to cut some slack is yourself.
ReplyDeleteGlad this could help! I'm so good at supporting others and telling them it's ok to take a break, but I'm hard on myself. Finally learning to give myself breaks and kudos too. :-)
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