Here and There

I am having a break from my normal routine I’ve got some time this week to spend on something else – notably writing and reading. Yes, I disappeared from my blogging again didn’t I?

No excuses from me – my time has been spent on other things that I have felt to be more important than writing. But, that’s not to say I don’t miss it. The last few days I’ve been positively itching (although, I’d like to point out not literally), to type something. Not because I have anything particularly useful to share but just because I need to just write something, anything. To allow my flow of thoughts to go from my brain, through my fingertips and onto a page. Even my journaling has taken a back seat.

Why you ask? You may ask. I’ve been training. Trying to get fit and healthy. I’d love to say I’ve lost tons of weight but alas not. It’s really just a lot of walking, a huge amount of running and trying to watch what I eat. A pandemic puts health in the spotlight, as you’ve probably seen yourself. It brings back the most basic of needs – the need to survive. And while we may have a great healthcare system I’m trying to do everything I can to not ever use it, or at least not as long as I can. As you get older (I’m 41 in case you’re wondering), you do think about your health more. I’ve always been healthy – no underlying conditions so consider myself extremely fortunate and I don’t want anything to jeopardise it. Still, I do need to lose about 2 stone (28lbs!), but I’m the fittest I’ve been in forever. And for that, I also sleep well (mostly). And more than that, on an even more personal level, I want to be fit and healthy to help others close to home. Be there for them, support them and make sure they feel supported. All that takes up a lot of time in the day.

So, while this pandemic carries on I took the decision to pull all my spare time into a fitness routine of walking at least 8k steps a day and working towards a better 5k race time. Focussing on just one big area has meant less time and desire to take my attention elsewhere and while I’ve missed writing regularly my fitness has indeed improved.

Trying to fit and work on too many projects at once can often leave me with such little gains that I end up then dropping them all and achieving nothing. However, like now, when I put 100% effort into just one area or project then I see bigger gains and steady progress. It’s never overnight success with anything I ever do but the more time I spend on something continuously the easier it becomes to maintain the motion and effort behind it. The production I put behind anything, be it gardening, exercise or writing, might be minimal or it might be substantial. Whichever it is it has to be consistent and it has to be relevant to that project only. And then, only then do I start to see a real positive difference.

So, for the time being, and at least until the end of the year, achieving health and fitness goals is my number one attention area and once I’ve completed that project then I can look forward to coming back to my writing nook. It’s taking a hit for now, but not forever. I’m not expecting, nor wanting, to sustain this level of daily fitness over a long period of time but it will take a significant time period to achieve my goals in this area (26 weeks following the plan).

I’m annoyed I can’t work on loads of projects at once and do everything at the same time, but experience has taught me many lessons. So in this instance, I’m going to step away for a bit longer, get the job done, the goal achieved and then I’ll be back.

Thank you for reading.