Today...

One of my favorite books when I was little was “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” I didn’t really have an Alexander day today... where everything seemed to go wrong, but something was definitely off. The last line in the book, which came to mind tonight is, “Some days are like that... even in Australia.” For whatever reason, this gives me some comfort.

I walked into the gym feeling fine today. Not amazing, but definitely not feeling bad. I did my warmup, and started into my workout, which didn’t look too terrible on paper. The deadlifts felt heavy, but I didn’t have to do too many reps, so I knew I could get through them. It was when I got to my 3 sets of 10 dips, push-ups, rows and lateral raises that I really started to struggle. Everything hurt, including the open rip on my palm from Saturday. I could only do a couple of push-ups before having to take a break. I wasn’t really so frustrated that it was hard today. This is probably pretty normal after a competition, and I was aware of this. I was frustrated that I wanted so much to be in it and to push through it, but I just wasn’t there. My body wasn’t. My mind wasn’t either.

After my second set, I sat outside for a while. I didn’t really think too much, just sat there and felt the breeze and tried to breathe. I felt like crying, but kept holding it back because I couldn’t think of why I wanted to cry, and I thought I should have a reason. Coach told me to call it quits for the day and move on. I don’t like doing this at all. I don’t like doing something different than what is written or when the weight gets changed because my form is off... or the workout gets shortened because I’m having an off day. Thankfully Steve usually knows better than me as far as this stuff goes... that’s why he gets paid the big bucks! Right Coach? ;)

Needless to say, I went home, ate some lunch and took a nap in the hammock. My tendency is to keep doing things... to avoid sitting still without the distraction of my phone or computer. I have a hard time breaking away from other people to be alone with my thoughts... with God, and the less I make this time for myself, the less I want to do it, and the harder it gets. As I thought about this today, I prayed that I would be able to make just one better choice a day. When I’m tempted to do something that is simply a distraction, that I would choose to do something that is more fulfilling or restful. Today I went home and napped in my hammock, and I’m thankful that I had permission to do so.

Some days are like that... even in Australia.