Somewhere in your dresser is that old, holey pair of underwear that you know you should throw out, but you keep it just in case you have a day that requires you to dress as gross as possible.
Even though you’ve upgraded all of the rest of your underwear and have all your bases covered.
Even though underwear comes in multipacks and is available at almost any literal store for just a few dollars.
Will a bad enough day ever come for you to really wear those underwear?
Can you believe in yourself enough to say no, a bad enough day will never come?
Can you go throw them out?
I know, I know…can I get to the point about what this has to do with fitness?
You decide how bad is “bad enough”.
We’ve all been through hard times. There’s usually nothing much we can do to prepare for them or anticipate them – that’s part of what makes them hard.
But even in hard times, you have control over how you will treat yourself.
You are better than those old choices.
Even on your worst day, you don’t have to resort to giving yourself holey underwear.
Or stale pop-tarts that were “the only thing to eat”.
Or skipping a workout because you “didn’t feel like it”.
Or putting yourself last, day after day, because something else is always more important than feeding yourself or doing other basic self-care tasks. (And yes, moving your body to keep it working well and feeling good is basic self-care.)
You decide how bad a bad day is.
Is today so bad that you should throw away all the good things you have built for yourself?
Are you sure?
Will the you from next month agree with that choice?
Even prisoners get healthy meals and exercise breaks.
However bad you might be feeling today about the world or about yourself, is it worse than if you were a literal prisoner?
Don’t you deserve at least that much?
Just like new underwear is available everywhere, support for your healthy choices is available everywhere, too! And if you can’t find any, email me. Opportunities to make healthy choices are everywhere every day, too, so enjoy your options and surprise yourself with how many healthy choices you can make that support your goals and your journey.
Feeling good is a choice that you make for yourself.
Into every life a little rain must fall, as the saying goes, but think of all the benefits of that rain: without it, plants don’t grow and oceans dry up! Whatever obstacles you encounter on your path, they’re important parts of your story, not signs of certain failure.
So make every day good enough. Not perfect, maybe not fabulously wonderful, but good enough. Treat yourself with a baseline of respect and care. Celebrate your accomplishments.
And acknowledge that no day will be bad enough that you need to resort to those holey underwear, literally or figuratively. You are worth so much! Boldly treat yourself like you matter, because you do. Every day.
