Ah, exercise. One of the things I love to hate. Honestly, I don’t enjoy carving out the time for some daily exercise, especially now with a little one in the house. Also, typically I get up early to exercise, and I am not a morning person. Some mornings it takes a ton of resolve to get out of bed, but most of the time I make it happen (with some exceptions, like sick days), because the benefits always seem to outweigh me staying in bed.
Most of us know that exercise has many overall benefits – it can help with mood and concentration, improve physical health, and reduce stress, among others. And, while I reap those benefits too, some of the biggest benefits for me are the things I tell myself after I exercise. The biggest one, and why I exercise in the morning a lot, is that all day long I can feel good about getting it done. Yay for me – I made a healthy decision and took the time to get it done before I made any excuses not to do so. I also tell myself that I am setting a good example for those in my life. Of course, no one is watching me exercise that early in the morning, but I can share what I am doing and that can be a positive influence on them.
So, I make exercise a priority in my day. It’s not always easy, but most things that are worth doing involve some effort. And this is a love/hate relationship that I am willing to continue.