The Truth You Don't Want to Admit to Yourself - A Guest Post

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Run like no one is watching. Photo by Bernd Moehle

This is a guestpost by Kim Thirion of Un-Copied Life.

"Oh, I don't workout in public— Someone might see me."

If I had a nickle for every time I used to say that...well, lets just say I'd be typing this from a villa balcony in some rustic Italian city right now instead of my comfy recliner listening to the sounds of MarioKart coming from the kids bedroom. Don't tell me you haven't thought those words at some time or another, because I probably wouldn't believe you if you did. Do you skip your walk because there are people around? Do you avoid the gym because other people might see you exercising? Are you embarrassed? Ashamed? I get it. I do. You don't want others to see how red your face gets. You don't want them to notice that you're huffing and puffing harder than the Big Bad Wolf. You'd honestly like to be invisible. And you know what? It's all a lie. It's a lie we tell ourselves because we don't want to face the real truth. What's that you ask? We don't want to exercise in public, because others might see us. And if they see us, then they'll see that we're overweight. Well guess what honey? They already know you're overweight. They noticed it the moment you walked up. It's hardwired into them.

People notice people who are different.

So, why would we continue to hurt our bodies (by remaining overweight) and our minds (by participating in negative self-talk) just to avoid something that everyone already noticed anyway? Because by pretending no one knows it, we can pretend it doesn't exist. We can pretend we're not different. It's a survival mechanism. Our brain knows that if we keep insulting ourselves, then we'll shut down. But not all systems are fool-proof. If we keep pretending, keep giving up, keep giving in, then we'll never get anywhere! If we keep telling ourselves that different=bad, we'll never make progress and we'll never succeed. We quit because there isn't an urgency. We quit because the reasons to continue aren't quite strong enough. We quit because we don't think we can finish. Let me ask you this... If someone held a gun to your head and ordered you to deliver a package a mile away, but only gave you 7 minutes... you bet your beautiful behind you'd run. You would run until you made it, or you passed out— but you'd do it. You'd do it because you'd have a reason to. You'd do it because the alternative is unacceptable. So today, I challenge you to find a reason. Find a reason right now. I want you to put that metaphorical "gunman" next to you and run like crazy. I'll leave you with a quote:

“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.” —Mark Twain

Tell me what/who your "gunman" is in the comments below. Kim is the writer and creator behind Un-Copied Life where she writes twice weekly about non-conformity. You can also find her on Twitter and Google+.