You kneed to hear this

Many times I’ve said ‘I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t run.’

Well at the moment I can’t run. And have no idea when I’ll be able to again. In fact, exercise is pretty much off the table.

But instead of mentally falling apart, which is what I thought would happen, I feel calm and spacious. It’s weird. It’s got me questioning a few things and reminded me of a few others that I think could help you. So, I thought I’d share them with you – are you ready?

It’s not what you do it’s how it makes you feel

I do not run to keep trim and get fit. We don’t really do the thing to do the thing – we do it because of how it makes us feel (or how we think we’re going to feel). 

I tried to run for years because I thought I should keep fit. I was surrounded by people who spent a lot of time in the gym, running 10K and so I figured that to be a proper person I should do the same. Guess how that worked out for me? Gym memberships that I barely used. Two weeks of running and then a year’s gap. I hated exercise – it was a chore.

But then years later when I was feeling overwhelmed with work my coach suggested running. Wow. What a difference. Getting outside each morning cleared my head so much. It gave me confidence that I could work through anything. It gave me peace.

Now I can’t run. So, I’ve reached for other things that give me that sense of peace and clear my head. 

You do the thing because of how it makes you feel. When you can’t do it find something else that will give you that feeling.

If you’re finding it difficult to do something articulate your why and link it to how it will make you feel.

Why do bad things happen to good people?
This was the kind of nonsense that was running through my head when the physio and A&E doctor told me that I was absolutely not to do any kind of exercise including walking. It soooooo wasn’t fair!

Now I could choose to continue to be pissed off but that’s not going to get my leg sorted any quicker and is only going to keep me miserable.

Instead, I noticed that I have more time to read and focus on deep relaxation exercises (which have been little life savers). My mornings are slower, calmer and restful. I didn’t know how much I needed this and it’s impacting so many areas of my life. I’ve learned that when I start exercising again, I also need to retain some mornings like I have now - all about balance my friends.
 
When you can no longer do what you used to do take a moment to feel the emotions that it brings up.

Then ask yourself ‘How is this helping me right now?’

Then look for what opportunities this opens up for you.

Do you really need to?
I need to run. Do you find yourself saying ‘I need to….?’  How inflexible is that word ‘need?’

You have basic needs that need to be met (it’s not lost on me that the word need keeps coming up as I sit here with a buggered knee) – food, water, money, a home, love. But apart from that you don’t need to do anything.

I’m not going to die if I can never run again. By saying to myself for years that I need to run I closed off other opportunities for myself. I gave a pass to myself to self-criticise if I didn’t do it one morning. I made it difficult to be happy in an unpredictable world. I became inflexible.

I’d like to run at least 3 mornings a week but if that isn’t possible then I’ll do other things. And I am.

What do you tell yourself you need?

Do you really need it or is it something that you’d like?

How does using the word need restrict you?

Quote | Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. - Oprah Winfrey