If I think about the physical slump I'm in, I may be able to trace it all the way back to February 2010 when I got my 2nd degree black belt. That damn test nearly killed me. Alright, I'm exaggerating, but it was definitely three-plus hours of hell. Three-plus hours of hell that I swore I would never go through again. "I'm too old for this shit" is all that kept going through my mind on that memorable occasion. I decided I would keep training for the fitness aspect, stress relief, and camaraderie, but I had no interest in being tested further (literally and figuratively).
This probably would have worked out okay except that my master instructor decided we needed to kick it up a notch (again, literally and figuratively) in our black belt classes on Friday nights. I wasn't feeling up for that extra level of effort so I made the decision to stop going to black belt classes. I would just go to regular adult classes to get what I needed. This probably would have worked out okay except that my master instructor decided we needed to kick it up a notch in our every day classes. Damn.
Have you ever reached a point where you just don't feel like making an effort? You think to yourself (or say to anyone who will listen),
Life is hard enough. Parenting is work. Maintaining a home is work. Marriage is work. My job is work. Do I want to work in my free time, too?Have you ever reached the point where physically you just need a break or at least want nothing more than to maintain the status quo and your dress/pants size? I'm ashamed to say it, but that's where I am. And the timing of this stagnate stage of my life is not ideal given that my husband has decided to forge new territory by training for a triathlon. For ten plus years I was the one regularly working out, training for a couple black belts. Now I slip into an ultra funk and he's got his act together. My township seems to be a hotbed of triathletes. This makes me feel even worse about being a lazy ass.Though not bad enough to actually start running, swimming, or cycling.
If my physical stagnation weren't bad enough, I also seem to be in a mental holding pattern. The proof? I've rediscovered television. I never had anything against television per se, I just had better things to do with my time. Reading, writing, and nagging my kids and husband were preferable to flipping through 200 channels of nothing worth watching. But then I made the mistake of asking my all-knowledgeable television friend Rebecca to recommend a program I might enjoy. And she handed over four DVDs covering the first season of White Collar.
"White Collar" is not BBC programming. It is not PBS. It is not even the history channel. It can probably be best categorized as amusing "dramatic" television, but in reality, it is eye candy. Matt Bomer is my new television crush.
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| Move over Dean Cain, there's a new super man in my life! |
The interesting thing about this stage I'm in is that, aside from feeling guilty, I'm actually in a better mood than I've been in in quite some time. Interesting, huh? So tell me, have you been here, done this? Any recommendations for me? I look forward to hearing from you!
3 comments:
Oh Kim...I'm laughing...not at you, but with you. Yesterday I went and signed up for my trial week at Curves where the very helpful owner informed me that while she does have some 20 and 30-somethings, the Curves target market is 40 and over...and she smiled kindly at me, although she has to be pushing 60 herself.
Maybe you're not stagnating but resting. So rarely do we make time for rest, real rest, which God built into the master calendar and which we so blindly as a culture, ignore. Don't rebel against. Don't revile it. Revel in this resting period. Let God be quietly at work in you during this "down" time just as much as he will be at work in you during the next upswing. Like a big fat hibernating bear, suck up that rest into your DNA so that you will be renewed and refreshed and ready for your Spring, whenever that arrives.
(And the really funny thing is...I'm hoping to post today and lead with the words of another Buffett song. Stay tuned...)
Ah, thanks Rachel! I generally don't do well with inactivity, but this "easing up" stage I'm in seems to be working out for me.
Been there. Done that. Been there again. You can't just go and go and go and not get burn out. I agree with Rachel -- think of this a rest and chance to look around to see what you want to do next. You know I have been looking for over a year but something will come. Be a blob for a while. We can blob together with the comfort that we have done that whole renaissance woman thing already. That is soooooo 2009. :)
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