As a fitness trainer I hear a lot of excuses. Like, A LOT. And typically, I let them all slide off my back because 1) we’re human, we’re programmed to talk about how hard our lives are, and 2) if I didn’t I would spend my entire day managing and trying to fix excuses…and baby, there ain’t enough minutes in the day!
But here’s the thing…recently there’s been this influx of the “I’m just too busy” excuse. This excuse, THIS EXCUSE sends me over the edge. Now, I’m not saying you’re not busy…but when you tend to a garden of excuses, those friggin’ seedlings of excuses bloom to a big oak tree of excuses rooted to the ground, never to move again.
What am I talking about? I’m talking about the need for people’s validation that the excuse of busy is a legitimate one. I’m talking about the idea that being too busy to move your body (the seed) can grow and grow and grow so that you become immobile (oak tree). You become rooted in the idea of busy-ness and THAT becomes your excuse mantra towards moving your body. Busy, busy, busy.
Hey…now listen…I’m not saying we shouldn’t glorify busy. Because, honestly, there are enough blogs out there that do that for me. What I’m saying it that it’s a really shitty excuse for not moving your body!
Here’s the thing…and I’m not saying I’m better than you in ANY way (believe me, I’d never do that), but I work from 4am – 10pm most days. I run a business that I’m desperately trying to grow. I have a husband and two small children. I have friends who need my attention. I’m busy. I’m a busy Mama Entrepreneur (heavy on the Mama, heavy on the Entrepreneur).
I workout at least five times a week. Do you HEAR ME?! I workout at least five times a week.
Why? BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT. I am important. This body, this vessel, it DESERVES to be moved and worked out and treasured and taken care of. This mind, it deserves to be ignited by positive endorphins and cleared of all the “busy”, if only for 30 minutes. I matter. My body and my mind matter.
SO DO YOURS.
GAH! Stop prioritizing everyone ahead of your health. You OWE it to your body. You OWE it to your mind. Facebook can WAIT. TV can WAIT. Dishes can WAIT.
Hang on…the WORST?! THE WORST?! Using your kiddos as an excuse for your busy-ness. Oh yeah, those little Minis create some serious busy-ness. Busy like I could have never imagined. When not shuttling them around to various sports, art classes, birthday parties…they need love, attention, teaching, boo-boo kissing…they need our time. WANNA KNOW SOMETHING?! They also need to learn that being physically active is a PART OF LIFE. That their body and mind matter.
THEY ARE IMPORTANT.
Want some statistics? Good. Me too.
84% of kids aged 3-4 are meeting the guidelines of physical activity per day. YAY! That’s pretty good. Wait…hang on. This plummets quickly with only 7% of kids aged 5-11 and 4% of kids aged 11-17 who meet the recommended guidelines. DID YOU READ THAT?!
What happens? Tell me!!! WE. GET. BUSY. I think we get so busy that we forget how important role modeling healthy behaviour is for our kids. We forget to SHOW THEM that MOVING OUR BODY IS IMPORTANT.
I had a SIX YEAR OLD tell me he was too busy to go play outside. TOO BUSY? What?! What was he doing? Playing on an iPad. Where did he most likely hear the excuse? From his parents or an adult close to him. I can almost guarantee it.
It’s shocking. So stop it. You deserve better. Your kids deserve better. Your kids shouldn’t have the excuse of busy-ness. They just shouldn’t.
Everything you do, everything you say is seen by your kids. Stop tending to the garden of busy-ness and get outside and tend an ACTUAL garden. Move your FREAKIN’ BODY!.
Prioritize. And put your health (both body and mind) above your excuses. Make a plan and stick to it. Be the role model your kids need. Promote movement. Promote making yourself important. Why? BECAUSE YOUR ARE.
Busy-ness is not important. YOU are important. Your body is important. Your mind is important. I’m totally repeating myself here…but are you getting it yet? If you don’t move you’re going to get bigger and bigger (oak tree) and you’re going to root yourself to the ground and not be able to move in a few years. So…KNOCK. IT. OFF.
Another quick stat: did you know that as much as HALF the functional decline between the ages of 30-70 is due to INACTIVITY, NOT aging itself?! HALF!!!! We start moving like elderly people early because we are sitting all the freakin’ time and we are not MOVING.
We’re going to get sick, we’re going to have injuries, we’re going to have days where, honestly, it’s just not possible to squeeze it in. But listen…on the days where you’re just searching for an excuse…be kind to your body and mind and go workout.
Prioritize YOU. Prioritize the vessel that has hosted you for however old you are. Respect it and take care of it.
If you don’t, it’ll be your kids that will be taking care of you and chances are…if they’ve watched you in all your busy-ness, they’ll already be rooted to the ground, unable to move and help you.
Oh, one last thing…and I hope you’re paying attention:
YOU. ARE. IMPORTANT.
That is all.