Guilty as charged....

Like so many other posts I have written, this is NOT what I had intended or plan to write today. But since it is on my mind now, the best thing for me is to just write it down and get it out of the way.

I looked up the word guilt in the dictionary:

guilt (glt)
n.
1.
a. The fact of being responsible for the commission of an offense.
b. Law The fact of having been found to have violated a criminal law; legal
culpability.
c. Responsibility for a mistake or error.

2.
a. Remorseful awareness of having done something wrong.
b. Self-reproach for supposed inadequacy or wrongdoing.

You may be asking yourself where I am going with this.

I was reading another blog the other day and the question was posed: "Do you feel guilty if you do not work out everyday?"

I didn't think much of it at the time, that is until last night.

I was sore yesterday from the previous day's workout, so I blew off my morning exercise with the promise that I would get some in at the gym at lunch. That didn't go as planned because I left my gym clothes and shoes at the house. "No prob", I thought to myself - I would get in a workout when I got home that night.

Once I got home, I took off my shoes, and my feet were horribly swollen, tight and painful yet once again. So I had resigned myself to staying off of them, trying to prop them up and get them iced down.

But, the guilt from not working out all day started to set in. I felt that I couldn't just sit there and NOT do anything. So, I did some floor exercises that did not require me to stand on my feet. I did modified pushups, crunches, leg lifts, hip abduction, etc (you get the picture). For some reason, I just couldn't let it go - I mean the guilt. Why would it be too hard for me just to say -"Today, I need to rest - tomorrow I'll get back to it". Guilt, guilt, guilt. In my head, I felt that I really had no excuse for not getting in some type of exercise. And if I didn't, I would be lazy. I know I'm not lazy, but that's how I felt. The truth is, I don't want to feel guilty for missing a day of exercise, or eating something that is considered unhealthy (once in a while). It's just another one of those hurdles that I will work on getting over - you know, learning that world is not going to end over this one hiccup - learning that I won't get "fat" just because of one setback.

Guilt - it can be a powerful motivator....or it can keep you from doing what needs to be done.

Anyways...thanks for listening. Feeling better just getting off my chest...now I can move on!