Get Back Jack

I have begun a second unprecedented year of working out at the gym. This is amazing progress for me in spite of the fact that my attendance has been stop-and-go. I did not go for three months over the summer and gained 20 pounds.

 

My progress has been in perseverance. My pattern has historically been one of enthusiastically beginning a new endeavor and then quitting altogether the first time I faltered.

 

I was taught a very long time ago that when meditating it is impossible to stay present in the moment and impossible to keep the mind from wandering. I was told that meditation is about practicing "returning" to the present, returning attention to the breath or the mantra. When quitting smoking it paid off to try again and again until I eventually quit. The same idea is helping my diet. I am beginning to be able to return to healthier foods sooner after going on fat and sugar benders.

 

Often in recovery I hear people say, "Just keep coming back." I also hear sober people say that this phrase has saved their lives.

 

I am trying to apply the same idea to my exercising. I first began going to the gym about five years ago. I went almost everyday for three months, missed a few days and never went back. The trick for me is in "returning". Last year I fell off my routine three or four times between the summer and the end of the year but I kept going back. I have lost 18 of the 20 pounds I gained over the summer and now weigh the same as I did a year ago when I quit smoking. Yee Ha!

 

The all-or-nothing brand of perseverance never worked for me, but I would try it over and over again - always with a new pursuit. I was forever coming up with a new idea, a new passion to obsess on for awhile. Slowly, very slowly, some of the principles I am being taught about in recovery are being incorporated into other areas of my life.

 

I missed my gym day at the end of last week and I overate that day. I was able to return to a healthy diet over the weekend and made it to the gym this morning. Remarkable! I just got to remember to "Keep coming back."

Hold that thought...

James