Running Toward Myself

Conscious Living 

Today I ran across a quote that I cannot get out of my head: "Be the kind of person who does the types of things required to have the results you want." (found here). I have been dwelling on the profoundness of this sentence ever since. There was a point in my life when clean eating, dedicated training regimenes, and conscious living permeated my daily routines. I simply did not eat junk food. Ever. I simply did not miss a workout or an opportunity to increase my fitness. Ever. I always thought about the consequences of my actions before I carried them out. Well, at least as far as my nutrition and training were concerned. Do not misunderstand. I have not fallen so far as to be completely and utterly out of control, a veritable loose cannon. However, I am a far cry away from that woman whose focus was so intense and resolute that she saw no limitations as to where she might go or whom she might become.

Fortunately, all of us can take comfort in the fact that there is tomorrow. Every day we are confronted with a new opportunity to start over and do it again. Do we still have to pay for our sins and transgressions of the past? Absolutely. There are no free passes in life. If I ate that super moist and amazingly delicious cupcake YESTERDAY, the effects of it upon my body are not magically gone just because I decided to renew my commitment to eating cleanly TODAY. But that is part of the beauty of making a daily commitment to our goals. We stop, consciously reflect upon our lifestyle and actions from yesterday and re-focus on our goals for tomorrow. You cannot work toward your goals yesterday, so being stuck there, beating yourself up for the mistakes you made is just counter-productive, plain and simple. You can't work toward your goals tomorrow, either. Neither you nor I are guaranteed that we will have a tomorrow to put things off to.  The only real, life-changing and goal-altering work that can ever be done is in the here and now....TODAY.

Having truly thought about this quote nearly all day, I think, just for me (and maybe for you, too) I might add just a few words to make it even a bit more meaningful. Something like:  "Be the kind of person TODAY who does the types of things TODAY required to have the results you want TOMORROW." With my tendency to dwell on the past, to look to yesterday and focus on all the crummy, stupid, unhealthy, and self-defeating things I did to sabotage my progress until I'm crippled with guilt, maybe a mantra that focuses on TODAY is just what my inner-critic needs to shut its trap. Today, I'm making this quote my daily affirmation to let the mistakes of yesterday be put to rest and, instead, wake with a renewed dedication and realization that TODAY is just another day to get up and do the work I need to do in order to be the very best me that I am ever going to be.