“When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it.” - Marcus Aurelius
Off weeks or off days or even off months, they happen to us all.
This past couple weeks I’ve been lacking harmony (or balance) in certain aspects that are important to me, fitness. It happens to us all, at one point or another, and you need to be ok with it in order to overcome it.
I’ve started a new job with an uphill learning curve, my parents have been visiting, my daughter started a new school which is still an adjustment on our schedules, and winter has begun to bring coldness, snow-covered sideways, and early evening darkness. Excuses.
We can all find excuses, I’ve been clinging tightly to mine these past few weeks. I’m allowing them to control me rather than heed my own advice and control them. Or perhaps it’s ok for me to step back for a few weeks in order to ensure harmony within all aspects of life, career and family. I do believe it’s the latter but it’s up to you to decide within your own life. Are you using these as excuses or are you trying to re-balance or re-harmonize the other aspects, you decide.
I say harmony here as balance is a myth in life - work, family, health, fitness. Balance indicates these are all equally weighted, they are not nor should they be. Seeking harmony in life is much more important and has become my mission, not balance.
Obviously I’m still writing this blog, which goes to show I’ve made my commitment to writing my story down and self-reflection an important piece of what will make me stronger. I’ve prioritized my sense of openness and vulnerability here as I deem it fundamental to being a better husband, father, man, and human.
Being ‘off’ doesn’t always mean being off. I might be off these past weeks in fitness but I’m on in family time and career, more than I generally am. In recognizing the importance of my personal health, I don’t want to make a long term habit of this. I do need to be a little selfish in ways to ensure I’m keeping fit and feeling good internally. Taking the time for myself makes me much more useful in the other important areas in life, stepping sideways to move forward quicker.
Being ‘off’ can also mean spending more time on fitness than on family or career. Putting in a lot of time getting and staying fit, this deteriorates your family, social, and career life. Unless you find harmony within it all you are deemed ‘off’, you then need to get back on track with all aspects.
In training for the marathon I had at least one full week, and other random days mixed in, that I was off from fitness and training. Things came up that made it seemingly impossible to get a workout in that day, although that was the day I had scheduled. I spent an entire week sidelined due to a nagging foot injury from running some stairs. I was able to get the rest, with a hankering to get back out I actually came back stronger. Slowing down to speed up is actually real. Your body needs to rest, your mind needs a break, and you need to maintain harmony within your life with all the other aspects. In my case I needed a week then, a day another time, and a couple days other times.
Harmony in life can mean many things, what is important to you will happen and it is ok to be ‘off’ and taking some time to rest, rejuvenate, and find the pieces that require a little extra attention. Life passes quick and I surely don’t want to look back with regrets.
DadBud
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