Stop and Take a Breath! Photo by Leslie Hassler

Wow! I can honestly say this is one week that couldn’t come to an end soon enough.

Between work and happenings outside of work, I felt like I simply couldn’t catch my breath. One thing in particular that got to me was the fact that for the first time since I started this blog, I wasn’t able to write a new post for Wednesday. Life got in the way, and I was actually angry with myself for not getting it done. Then halfway through that busy workday, I stopped and remembered a famous quote from John Lennon: “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” Then I took a deep breath and got over it.

It amazes me how hard we can be on ourselves. We make never-ending to-do lists and get flustered when we can’t cross off the 30th item in a 24-hour period. When the fun things become chores, that’s when it’s time to step back and realize you may not be able to get everything done at the exact moment you want. And really, unless someone’s life is at stake, it’s not the end of the world.

For me, that means my love affair with exercise sometimes has to take a backseat to other things, like much-needed sleep. Yesterday, I set the alarm for 5:30 am hoping to get my heart pumping before a day at the office followed by a personal training session. There was no way I could workout afterward at a late hour, especially on an empty stomach! However, when the alarm went off, my body practically screamed at me to stay in bed. So I did. I’m convinced that extra snooze time helped me write coherent scripts and meet my production deadlines at the office and be a more focused trainer for Lauren at the gym afterward.

This week didn’t go as planned on many levels. So, I did the best I could to face the unexpected challenges with the energy I had to face them. All that means is during the weekend ahead, I’ll make a new list with a new plan for more workouts, more blog posts and hopefully, some more sleep. The reality is taking a deep breath and “forgiving” yourself for what you couldn’t get done can sometimes help you climb what feels like an uphill battle to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!