Earlier this year I went on a writer’s retreat aptly named ‘write motivation’. Apart from the beautiful play on words, I have been thinking about this phrase a lot this year.
You see, this year is my year to write. This year I have set aside hours and hours of bum in chair, hands on keyboard. However, I have back and neck problems that trigger headaches. And of course my tight shoulders and neck is exacerbated by spending hours and hours in front of a screen.
I have never been that enthusiastic about any sort of exercise.
I carefully chose the position with the least running in school sports.
Getting on a bike has always been an absolute disaster.
And regular exercise has been a nice idea, but never even approached reality in my life. Until this year.
Because this year I want to write.
And funnily enough, that gave me the motivation for regular exercise. At the beginning of the year I signed up with a trainer for one day a week. He works with me on core strength. My headaches have definitely lessened, I am standing straighter and I am also a lot fitter. But I never signed up to be fit, I never signed up to lose weight. My reason for signing up was to be strong enough to manage a year of writing.
To that one day a week with the trainer I have added one day of body balance and I walk with a friend another day. Somehow this year I am doing regular exercise three times a week. And I am enjoying it, because I found my motivation. Which for me was actually ‘write motivation’, (thanks Elaine).
Maybe it isn’t exercise for you, maybe it is some other lifestyle change, but finding the right motivation can be the key that unlocks so much else in life.
Join me for the journey,
Jodie