It’s true. Some BUTs are more easily managed than others and this BUT management in January has been a challenge. Or is that me diving into Excuseland once again?
January is drawing to a close and it hasn’t been a whole lot of fun. I came back from skiing and the Aussies picked on me big time, driving me to my bed with the brutality of their flu. Ugh! It’s been years since I was last bed-ridden with an illness like that. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time, so it was a bit of a shock to both mind and body to find myself void of enough energy to do more than reach out for the next dose of paracetamol. As a consequence, my BUT management focus for the remainder of this month has been …
BUT I’VE BEEN SICK!
Far FAR too easy to succumb to that ‘but’ for days. or even weeks: I should/could go to the gym and work out BUT I need to give my body time, I don’t want to get ill again, I’m still coughing, I’ve got no energy, I’m not fully recovered, blah blah blah. Fortunately, from the safety of my living room I had an episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins to watch, and as those men pushed themselves way beyond comfort zones getting up that mountain all I could hear was the DS yelling ‘GET UP! MOVE! YOU WANT ME TO CALL THE MIDWIFE? GET OFF YOUR ***ING ARSE’ (or words to that effect). Humiliating as it was for the relevant contestant (it is reality tv, after all), the reference to the midwife made me laugh out loud – until the penny suddenly dropped and I thought ‘Sh*t, that’s me right now. Not moving, making excuses about being tired, exhausted, aching …’
And there it was: the perfect time for some BUT management. It was all the motivation I needed. Thank you, DS. The very next morning I hauled myself out of bed and headed for the gym with a kill or cure attitude – and pretty much nailed a decent session. I’ll even admit to hearing that little voice in my head (‘Need a midwife??’) while choosing my weights and yes, it worked. I put back the 8kg and took the 16kg.
‘No midwife for me today,’ I thought. ‘If I’m here I might as well make it worthwhile.’ Felt good.
It hasn’t all been easy, though. I’ve been back working out for a good ten days now and I haven’t wimped out BUT (there it is!) I’m struggling with energy and motivation. Coming up to Christmas I felt driven and couldn’t wait to get to the gym, I was smashing goals and seeing results. This month? Nada. Zilch. Ugh.
Still, I’ve beaten the ‘but I’ve been ill’ demon and even managed to complete thetrilife.com‘s virtual indoor standard distance triathlon last weekend (to be done within a 48-hour period) – 1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run. So I haven’t been sitting on my butt BUT I am looking forward to February and I’m trying to come up with some strategies to rediscover my motivation and enthusiasm. There could be a strong case for managing ‘BUT I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT’ over the next week or two. I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, I’ll be catching up on the latest episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins and frantically dodging midwives.
(For more about BUT Management, see here)