You know what they say – the only thing constant in life is ‘change’.
Life is like a roller coaster ride or the unpredictable oceans that surround us. They have their ups and downs and storms and calms. Every ride, every wave, every swell, every splash, every wind, every day is different. And it’ll always be like that.
And life is very similar. No one day is the same as another. No one person is exactly the same as another. No one situation is a complete replica of another. There is always difference, there is always variability, and there is always change. This is the unwavering pattern of life.
So it makes sense that health and fitness is no different either; health and fitness, afterall, is just another element of our ever-changing rollercoaster of day-to-day life.
Yet, we seem to constantly chase this notion of ‘balance’, this ideal of health and fitness perfection (which, in itself, is uniquely subjective to each and every one of us) as if it exists, and as if one day we’ll find this destination that we’ll happily settle for, and that we’ll be happy to settle with for life.
It’s important to both realise and respect that we each have our own individual ideals about strength or fitness, eating regimes, movement patterns, daily health rituals, body aesthetics, flexibility, and all manner of all things wellness-related. And as such, our personalised ideas of what our unique point of ‘balance’ is are going to differ from one person to the next.
Regardless of our differences, and despite how goal-oriented or health-savvy we are, there is quite possibly not ever going to be an end destination with your health and fitness, nor is there likely to ever be.
Why? Because we are destined, as creatures of forever seeking greener pastures, to always be on the search for the next best thing. It is most certainly in our best interests, then, to simply try to keep improving upon what we already do or what we already know, and make peace with the fact that there is no one destination, but just an endless channel of adventures, discoveries, challenges, and triumphs!
We are also destined to fall off the wagon, because, let’s be frank, none of us can be perfect ALL of the time! And how boring would life be if that was the case!
I’m a great example! I (clearly) love the health and fitness stuff I both practice and preach daily. But I too can stumble and trip! Throughout the winter I worked my butt off, both nutritionally and physically, to become fighting fit for a charity boxing match (that never eventuated, but we won’t revisit that!). Since then though, I have relaxed, unwound, implemented some restorative practices (in exercise and food contexts!) and ‘undone’ some of the great stuff I had achieved. And I recently had a weekend away with my fambam and I over-indulged more than I have in a very long time.
But rather than feel guilty, I’m feeling ready. Ready for stepping it up, ready for more intense action, ready for some hard stuff again, and ready for the next chapter.
Because life’s better with four seasons and ever-changing wants and needs and desires.
Let life be an endless chase for renewed excitement, falling upon unchartered territory, and discovering new and wonderful things. And enjoy the thrill that comes with constant change, and being open to whatever your next chapters bring x
