I Rekindled And Old Flame And It Was Marvelous!
Mar 31, 2023I boarded the perimenopausal roller coaster in 2020, and this ride's unpredictable ups and downs have made me reevaluate many things. One of those things is how I see movement. I’ve always been pretty motivated to exercise, so I haven’t struggled too much with wanting to exercise, but over the past two years, I’ve had a hard time (on and off) with anxiety, hot flashes, insomnia, and fatigue so severe that it makes my eyes feel like 5lbs weights are attached. My motivation to go to the gym suddenly disappeared; the mere thought of movement made me more tired. I needed a change but was lost. Should I just give up? I felt like it often, but it's not in my nature (I'm an Aries through and through). So I opted to go way way back. During this time, I was also working on the final development of my masterclass, so I was in full exploration mode. In hindsight, this combination was the perfect situation because I used myself as a guinea pig to come up with questions to evaluate what kept me from moving and what I could do to change my motivation. It came down to doing a deep dive into my past experiences with exercise and movement. This became a critical step in finding my way out of the rut and helped me rekindle some old flames, revitalizing my thoughts about movement and increasing my motivation.
You may ask, what does this all mean? In essence, I started thinking about all the types of exercise and movements I have done in my life and which ones I enjoyed and which ones I did not. I was surprised to have completely forgotten about several old flames, one of which was racquetball. I used to play racquetball regularly, and it was my happy place. Why did I stop? When I moved to the U.S. from Germany, I could not find a place to do it, and then, I just forgot to keep looking. Life took over, and I left it behind, but I never threw away my racquet. I guess some part of me knew I would find my way back, and I did. Why am I sharing this? Because I am sure that you have an old flame you forgot about that could bring you joy now if you reintroduced it. What is that old flame? Ask yourself this question:
Are there any activities, pursuits, or passions you once loved but are no longer part of your life? Why?
I’d love to hear your answers. You can email me at [email protected]
I believe that if you include joyful movement into your life, you’ll end up wanting to do more of it. Sustainability is the key to success. Add things that bring you joy! If you force yourself to do things you don’t truly enjoy, you won’t stick to them. If you exercise because it makes you happy, chances are you won't stop because you don’t want to stop being happy, right? You got this!
