Ah, love! The magic, the fairy dust, moments of perfection and bliss. The grunting. I'm talking about self-love exemplified by gym workouts, and fairy dust that looks like hand chalk! Truthfully, I’ve never seen a fairy waving a wand around the gym, though I keep my eyes open just in case. Honestly, doing the work is way more rewarding, though I will totally take a free wish. Self-love is often misrepresented in today's society. While valuing oneself is paramount in order to extend love to others, the theme isn’t to dismiss other relationships, but to personally be great so one can be great with others. Most of us are aware that when we value ourselves, we have more to offer those around us. In my daily journey to self-love, I’ve learned that "me time" at the gym contributes most to my overall health and relationships. I have understood that the successful traits and learned mechanisms around my love for fitness parallel those around loving humans.
Just because it weighs a lot doesn’t mean you can't move it
While anticipating the challenge, remain calm and confident in your ability even when stressed. Easy days do not make us great. Moving heavy weight is done inch by inch, staying with the task even when the weight feels crushing. Repeated questioning of self only prolongs recovery and causes confusion. All relationships have bumps in the road, and a problem between two people can feel like carrying a weight that would be easier to drop. Keep it simple, cut out distractions, be patient, expect failures, and figure it out. Resistance that is too heavy may cause injury, but the greatest reward is breaking through and moving forward.
Working towards the goal doesn’t always offer immediate gratification
Consistency yields habits. Work hard over time, applying the same principles every day. Sometimes the needle barely moves - three steps forward, two steps back. Everything gets repetitive. No matter how long you’ve been lifting or how good you are, you still have to put in the work. Remember why you love it and are doing it. Learning how to stay motivated, and disciplined when that fails, goes far. Love is an endurance sport and if we put consistency into our relationships daily, we grow over time.
Choose a good partner
The journey is way more fun with someone to share it. Having the right partner is the difference between being good and being great. Enjoy the process. Choose to be successful, visualize results. You can look in the mirror and convince yourself you cannot accomplish a goal, or that you will. Finding the right person to support you is a special kind of love.
Love in the gym and at home share so many fundamentals. I am that crazy fitness-obsessed girl who loves the gym because it makes other areas of my life make more sense.
Valentine's Day reminds us not take love for granted. When you have a good person in your life, value them and show them the respect you want for yourself. The lessons we learn from our health and fitness endeavors can be applied.to other areas of our life. Applying these principles to your love relationships might help you to know which to avoid, which to exit, and most importantly how to make the great ones last. Cheers to our desire to be great, to emotional intelligence, and to the best teacher of all...love.
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