Expectations

That’s a photo of my babies up there for two reasons. 1)Babies are cute and I’m hoping they make you smile and 2)Babies don’t give a damn about expectations… and isn’t that truly a beautiful thing?

So, in case you missed it…I suffer from the classic problem of no follow-through. I’ll admit it- it’s not one of my best qualities…but I know I’m not alone out here in: “start on a journey, fall off the rails, and then wait months (or never) to get your train back on track” land. Who’s with me? I have this problem in several areas of my life… but especially when it comes to health+fitness and creative pursuits.

For example, I will set a goal for myself to follow a workout program or commit to a running schedule regularly. It’s going great for like, 3 days. Who knows what happens on day 4. Maybe the babies are nuts that day and I don’t catch a break until 8 pm and I’m zonked and would literally rather fall asleep on the floor than put workout clothes on and do some cardio (are you kidding me?). Or maybe (more likely) it’s just a pretty normal day, nothing crazy happening, but naptime comes around and I’m feeling like I would get more mental/emotional benefit from relaxing on my couch with my coffee (finally) and watching Bravo than I would from anything else.

Guys, day 4 is what kills the momentum. Day 5 comes around and I'm like, “well day 4 was a failure so why even keep going?”. Days 5, 6, 7, 8 pass by uneventfully….It isn’t until day 30ish that I’m like “OK, fine. We’ll try it again”. And so the cycle continues. Rationally, I know that committing to a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to workout every single day in order to avoid being a “failure”. I really don’t think I believe there is a such thing as “failure” when it comes to one’s life. It’s all about balance, finding what works for you, committing to lifestyle choices rather than workout regimes, and BALANCING EXPECTATIONS.

I always set these silly and super unrealistic expectations for myself, thus setting my future self up to view my pursuits as a “failure” when I inevitably can’t live up to them Why do I do this when I know I shouldn’t? BEATS ME. Maybe I’ll never know. (Seriously, any and all insights will be appreciated).

What I DO know is that I’m refusing to let my problem with expectations stop me from writing. When I started this blog, I once again set dumb expectations for myself. So when a long period of time went by that I didn’t write (hello two under 2), I let that time stretch longer and longer….because writing again would mean I would have to accept my absence as not a “failure”, but rather what it actually was: a break.

So that brings us to today and this post. I realize that I need to accept my shortcomings and embrace them. I’m going to try my darnedest and allow this blog to flow organically and not snuff out its potential just because of my own expectation (See: Ego) problem.

I’m not sure who needed to hear this today: but it’s OK to be a “once in a while” person. It’s fine to strive for greatness, but it’s super important to accept yourself where you are RIGHT NOW and know that the RIGHT NOW you is also pretty forking great.

Love,

Abbie