Shit Happens

It is easy to be grateful when things are going well. Your view on life is optimistic as you see the glass half full. You are hopeful and all this positivity carries over to your daily routine. When things are good, you are motivated, consistent with your workouts, sticking to your meal plan and have a certain pep in your step. It feels like you have more energy! Conversely, when the pendulum swings the other way, it’s easy to fall by the wayside. You lose focus and those sunny days are now replaced with cloudy ones. The loss of focus affects your moral which in turn causes your motivation to diminish. Suddenly, you have a lack of energy and it’s difficult to stay on track towards achieving your objectives.

I won’t get into all of the personal trials that I’ve faced recently. Needless to say, they derailed me from the path I was on. Shit happens I guess…more like life happens! It felt like I was being attacked on all fronts. I loss the momentum I created. I’m all about riding that wave. Well that wave came crashing down. As my progression abruptly halted, stagnation took its place. There was a lack of mental toughness on my part. If there is a silver lining, it was that realisation. In life you are truly tested when things don’t go your way. It’s on those bad days that you need to muster what energy you have and drag yourself to the gym. I let my feelings get the best of me which lead to some emotional eating – I reverted to some bad habits.

It is impossible to predict the future. All I know is that change is a constant. The better you adapt to it, the more successful you’ll be. When faced with pain, it is human nature to shy away from it. Actually, most run away from it instead of embracing it. During this tough period, I wanted to resort to what was comfortable. Striving for comfort does not lead to progress. I must improve my mental toughness and eventually embrace discomfort. Pain is often associated with failure. Nobody sets out to fail. However, there are lessons to be learned when you scrutinize those failures.

Now that I’m back on track, there is no reason for me to hold onto setbacks. Life is not easy and it is filled with obstacles. These challenges can either make or break you. Even though there is truth in that statement, I am not going to overthink this. It may sound cliché but I should just focus on the prize. And for me it’s simply attaining my goal of losing that next twenty pounds.

Lenard Sémajuste

This entry is dedicated to JD, the next senator.