Begin with the thought experiment I alluded to in post #9 about motivation. Imagine a person who is not you, but who is like you in many ways: the same age and gender, the same number of children; the same kind of daily work; the same challenges; if you're married, a spouse with the same sort of temperament and work schedule. All the things that control what you can and can't do, and when: she is like you. This person is like you, that is, in every way but one: she is an athlete. She is the kind of person who makes sure she gets regular exercise, of some kind, a certain number of times every week. Perhaps you imagine she is the kind of person who loves it, too. She hardly ever misses a workout. It's a habit, part of her daily rhythm. The rest of the family accepts it because it's part of who she is.
How does she do it? This imaginary person?
She probably has to choose to do some other things differently from how you do them, I suppose. Maybe she doesn't spend as much time cooking dinner -- maybe her family eats sandwiches for dinner twice a week. Maybe she leaves her kids in the gym child care while she exercises. Maybe her house is messier than yours. Maybe she has fewer other hobbies.
She's probably been doing it for a while, of course. You don't get this way overnight. She's been making sure she gets her daily or weekly doses of exercise for long enough that she's confident. Wherever she goes, she's at home there. Yeah, sometimes the schedule gets a little hairy, she and her spouse have to plan ahead a bit to make sure everybody's needs are met, but for the most part she doesn't need to ask permission from anyone. She grabs her bag and goes. Everybody expects that it's part of the schedule. It is part of living with this person.
Watch her, in your mind's eye, as she heads out the door with her gym bag or her running shoes or whatever. You have imagined the choices she's made. What is your reaction to her? Is she a "bad mom?" Are you judgmental of her? Or are you envious of her?
If you just can't see how she can be a reality---this person who is like you, except that she is practiced at taking care of her own needs for physical exercise---please, spend some time contemplating her. See if you can imagine her clearly enough---her schedule, her appearance, the stuff she carries around with her in the car, where the children are while she exercises, what kinds of activities she does.... See if you can imagine her clearly enough that she begins to seem like a possible real person. A character in a novel you could write, and have it make sense. A friend you might be able to meet for a real cup of coffee. Imagine her until you see that she could, she really could, be real.
Because the truth is, she can be real. Trust me on this one.
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