Giving Yourself the Freedom to Fail
It really does make sense that although it may feel like failure if you can't run those two miles you planned, it's really not. If you run a mile, that's certainly more than none.
Same applies to me and the pressure I feel some days that I must get up and walk, walk, walk. Some days I just don't feel up to walking at all, but I will get up and take a few steps and judge how my body feels. If it's all I can do just to take a few steps, I will do as much as my body tells me I can and stop, but if I take a few steps and it feels almost effortless -- I will still do as much as my body allows and stop. Either way, I'm doing as much as my body allows, which is a hell of a lot more than nothing and is still forward progress.
A great example of this just happened to me yesterday. I went to my favorite park and planned to do my usual four miles (in my wheelchair of course). It had been a while since I had been there, but that usually doesn't matter, I'm in good enough shape to do four miles with a break at the two mile mark. On this particular day, however, I felt like I was just starting out. I had no energy it seemed, and my body just didn't wanna. It was like a little kid whining at me "are we done yet?" So, I gave it the rest it wanted and only did about one mile. The day after I was very sore so it's clear to me my body needed to rest.
I think I will print that article and paste it on my office wall. Since I fell behind in my step count, I have been feeling bad about it, like I have failed. Truth is, I haven't failed until my 365 days are up for one thing, and for another thing, even if I don't make the 100,000 I still have not failed as long as I have continued to try.
Must give self more credit.
Step count today: 457
Steps I'm behind: 6,716
The day is not over yet. Since it's Friday, I am indulging in an iced coffee and once my little girl heads off to the movies I am going to do some more walking. I actually am going to bring out my quad cane and see how I do with just one. If I'm too wobbly I won't bother for fear of another injury, but I'm curious to see how it will feel compared to how it felt a year ago.
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