Last week I found myself explaining to my children that when we say we can't do something, it's often that we don't want to do that something. Let's face it, in the Google driven world that we live in, everything is learnable.
I drove the point home with a lovely anecdote about mowing the lawn. For the first 6 or 7 years of my marriage my husband had the chore of mowing the lawn. I told myself, and anyone else who would listen, that I didn't know how to use a lawnmower so he was stuck with the job. I just couldn't do it.
As time went on I noticed that he seemed sick after mowing the lawn. I also noticed that my oldest son seemed sick every time the lawn was mowed (allergies are a formidable foe). More time went on and I realized I was regularly feeling annoyed that the lawn wasn't being mowed often enough. These things finally led me to my Aha! moment where I realized that I didn't want to mow the lawn. After this it took very little time to learn how to mow the lawn (although I've broken like 3 mowers in the time I've been in charge of this chore). I remind myself of this story every time I say (or think, silently and belligerently) I can't.
This week, I found myself having a conversation with my mom about managing her health. We were discussing how important it is to balance exercise and healthy eating as well as pushing ourselves and sticking to a plan even when you're not seeing results. She mentioned that a nutritionist wasn't helpful because she already knows what foods to eat and what amounts are healthy. This conversation went around in loops for a long time and sent my mind churning.
Who am I to talk about healthy eating or living? I'm easily 100 pounds over a "healthy weight" for my height. I was in the same boat, I know the foods to eat and avoid and the exercises to do. Whatever questions I have can be answered by Google. Yet my head is full of "I can't" excuses. Realistically, I like donuts and soda enough to choose them over losing weight.
All this brought me to a place where I got my lazy bones to the gym at 10 o clock at night and this morning found myself on the exercise bike at 7am while I checked my Facebook page. This week I'm turning my "can't find time to exercise" into I will find time to exercise."
How do we manage to let the "I don't want to" attitude rule our lives? How can we overcome this and set a "can do" example for our children? I'm going to start tackling more of my I don't want to moments head on and see where it takes me. I have a bad feeling it might lead me to more chores and trying gross food. But... It could also lead to something amazing, only time will tell.
