Wading Through Treacle
Hi everyone,
Some days are just hard work aren’t they? Everything you try to do seems to be a little bit harder than you expect and than is necessary! Annoying! ? I’ve had a week like that and so at 4am this morning was thinking about how to keep going and tap into my tenacity and determination.
I thought of a conversation I’d had last year when something insightful popped out of my head during a coaching conversation. It doesn’t happen often but sometimes a pearl of wisdom just falls out of nowhere. I had been speaking to someone about things constantly feeling like hard work and had likened it to struggling to walk up a steep hill. I said “I guess you only get fitter if you walk up a steep hill, you don’t get much fitter if you walk on the flat”.
Sometimes we need to walk on the flat. I had some health problems last year and couldn’t physically walk up the hills I’d been able to trudge up fairly easily the year before. So I had to let myself walk on the flat, as much as I didn’t like it. That aided my recovery and now I’m able to walk up more challenging hills, although I’ve still not faced up to the big beastie one that I used to be able to do!
So while difficult days are annoying, frustrating, tedious and exasperating, they are making us fitter and more able to deal with a varied range of challenges. I guess the wisdom is….stop at the top of the hill and admire the view. Or at least stop somewhere on the way to the top, look around you and get your breath back. Feel proud of your achievements and recognise how well you’re doing. And then if you need to, keep on trudging because as we know, there will always be more to do. If you carry on without a break, you may well burn out and then you’re no help to anyone. We all need to keep a focus on our own health and wellbeing to stay strong, be resilient and effective, and to support others.
Much of my determination comes from not liking to be told ‘no’ so while I may be down I’m very seldom out and I come back around and try something different. That’s good resilience, as long as you give yourself time to rest and regroup. Pounding yourself into the ground is not constructive for you or anyone in your life but it does take good self esteem to allow yourself the time and head space to be able to work out your next move. By stopping, taking stock and being kind to yourself you’re more likely to be more productive when you do move forward. It can feel like two steps forward and one back but in the long run it means you can keep going up the steep hill, tackling challenges and getting fitter. Instead of spraining your ankle and rolling all the way down to the bottom again like a weeble! That’s just my mental imagery, those of a certain age might remember them!
There is strength in stopping, regrouping and only then letting yourself move forward. As I always say, these things take practice but being kind to yourself generally is a great way to start 
Take good care please and have a great weekend.
Best wishes, Karen