A few years ago I got the chance to spend a whole day at the computer. As a mummy to two pre-schoolers, this felt like a rare treat. A whole 7 hours at my computer meant proper time to focus. No noses to wipe. No popcorn to pop.
This day I left a happy trail of ticked boxes and crossed out to-do tasks behind me, but what did I notice by the end of this special event? I felt SORE. My body felt achey, heavy and stiff.
It didn’t feel good.
Then that same week a Herald article proclaimed how many hours of movement it takes to counteract sitting for a full workday: It is a whole hour of exercise. That means if you work a 5 day week, you would need to do five hours of exercise for the the tightness to unsquash and the pressure points to unsquish.
I am reminded once again of this life balance so many of us are searching for; what one of our members brilliantly called ‘everything balance’.
Is it the same for you?
Here’s your three-legged stool: You have one leg each for Family, Career and Health.
So often it’s hard to have all three strong and even. There is one that falters, and it’s often the health and fitness leg. Sometimes it feels like your health and fitness is the less instantly demanding of the three, the one you can put off, or the more flexible one.
Yet how can you afford to lose your health when you want to stick around for those you love? When you want to trek the Camino trail in Spain in retirement? Or because you aspire to be a role model for your children.
(If you want a super quick life balance check, download our life balance wheel. You simply take two minutes to mark up and get an instant snapshot of where you are excelling and where you can expand a little more – this tool is invaluable.
Here’s the kicker. Most likely nobody’s going to hand your life balance to you on a velvet cushion. Unless you have amazingly pre-emptive in-laws, a boss who bends over backwards, full time help or a mind reading partner, generally you can’t assume it will just be given it to you.
You have to claim it.
As I have myself experienced so many mixed flavours of guilt, claiming, and guilty claiming, I feel sensitive to what I am privileged to hear being shared with me at the studio. Mums of young children in 7.30pm classes, expressing their guilt about missing storytime. Women racing into class a few minutes late from child handover because hubby got caught in traffic.
My heart goes out to the fitness loving lady who declares ‘the stars have to align for me to come to class’ (meaning I am keen as mustard but I require: husband had no late meetings, baby already fed and not teething, sibling’s homework done and preferably in pyjamas before I leave.)
I enjoy the delightful matter of factness of the thrice over mothers who hardly ever miss class as they have really clicked how important it is for their health balance, and I feel extra happy for them when I intuit it’s clearly part of an actively supportive understanding between themselves and their other half. (I silently thank these wise women as they encourage all of us in our own resolves.)
Maybe that’s because they have been ‘there’. So consumed by the exhausting demands of small children and daily tasks that they know deep inside they just can’t afford to let themselves go to ‘that place’ ever again. (I certainly remember this from my young kiddie days too.)
Then there’s the lovely brand new mum the other week who told me how supportive her husband is of her getting out for a bit of fitness and in return what she does to support his training.
There are the husbands who buy their wives’ vouchers, and wives who book husbands’ visits and there‘s the whole spectrum in between which is maybe somewhere where you find yourself today.
We are all part of the ongoing flow of the river of life. Some of us in the rapids, others in the shallows, some nearing the rocks, others caught in a current, some recovering after successfully navigating a rough patch, and all of us, hopefully doing the best we can.
So here I can only encourage you to claim what you know you need. (Please remember folks: Claiming it once isn’t always enough. Usually you have to reclaim it many times before it becomes a non-negotiable healthy habit which will give you confidence as you look toward your future decades.)
To claim what you need takes courage. And I hope this speaks to you.
Courage doesn’t always roar. Brave doesn’t always come stomping into the room loudly.
Sometimes, often times, brave is just showing up. Sometimes, oftentimes, courage is taking a risk by whispering your truth because you can’t say it too loudly right now. Sometimes, oftentimes, brave and courage show up in the small things not the big things. You are braver than you think you are.
– Makeda
So let’s get claiming! Or reclaiming! Let’s get started!
If you need any help choosing a lifestyle plan that suits your needs or have any questions about what Transform has to offer your mind, body and soul, please feel free to contact us anytime by clicking this link.