It’s Canadian Thanksgiving today, and if you are a person who celebrates the meaning of the holiday, you’re likely feeling thankful or grateful. You have a lot to be grateful for, and of course, life isn’t perfect, but considering there are billions of people on this planet who don’t have the means to read this blog post right now and you do, that’s a start.
Being grateful doesn’t mean you have to settle for the life you have. I know I’ve often equated gratefulness to surrendering to life. As in: “Well, this is all I got, and this is all I’m ever going to get.” That simply isn’t true. Taking a moment, or even a day like today to reflect on what you have and who, or what got you here, is just a way to recharge and rest. It’s just another way to be present and soaking in the moment.
The Reason for This Blog
The most magnificent reflections in my life come to me when I work out. There are all kinds of science behind why your mind opens up when you’re in beast mode. It’s the reason why many people become addicted to body movement in the first place -myself included.
Before each workout, I set an intention to learn something about my life and world. And then, I record it on this blog to encapsulate my thoughts and then share them with you.
What Was My Intention?
All weekend I thought about the second life that I’ve been afforded. I often look at my existence in two lives: the listless, and meaningless life I lived before I came forward with my abuse and the energy filled, growth minded life I lived after. For this workout, I intend to reflect on the people who got me here, the challenges that I’ve overcome and differences between the two lives I’ve lived.
How Did I Feel Before?
I’m feeling as thought I haven’t worked out in a decade! While I did a workout on Friday, I haven’t done much movement since. Two days of no sweat have made me feel antsy. Mentally and physically, I’m aligned, and I’m looking forward to getting back into it.
What Did I Do?
- Treadmill: Ran 5k at a 4:45 k/min pace with intense hills.
- Row machine: 10 minutes rowing.
- Push-ups: 50 uneven push-ups using a medicine ball.
- Ab set on the mat.
How Do I Feel After?
After 10 minutes on the rowing machine and then following that up with 50 uneven push-ups, my shoulders are jittery! I love that feeling! I’m glad I got the holiday workout in, it gave me a sense of routine again after a 4-day-long weekend.
What Did I Learn?
I came to a big revelation during my workout. One that contradicts what I have written earlier in this post. But that’s OK! It’s what happens when you work out and reflect, you see things differently.
Having a second life would mean that the effects of my first life would be null and void. There would be no carryover. This view of my life short changes the significant work that I’d put in trying to heal from past trauma and pain.
I learned that we are only ever given one life to live.
If we want to, we can chunk up our lives like chapters in a book, but try as you may, you cannot run away from the past. Your past is what makes you who you are. It’s how you process your past that determines who you will be in the coming chapters. If chapters in a book didn’t correlate to the chapters before it, the book would be disjointed and hard to read. They all have to flow together, and that is what our lives are.
There is no such thing as a second life. We only have one.