Day 30 - Keep it rolling

The hardest part about setting out on a path, is keeping on in when you hit that first bump in the road. I guess you could argue that the trick is to avoid those bumps as best you can - then you'll never have to recover from a bump!

10 miles before Breakfast

Today was one of those days. I had a really good weekend, and woke up this morning full of beans and ready to roll. I probably shouldn't have checked my email first thing - the problem about being 6 hours behind a lot of your work colleagues means a clear inbox when you leave in the evening is rarely so when you arrive back in the next day. 

But outside that I hit today (and the gym, twice in fact) full of energy, which is so important when you are trying to develop good habits. God knows I picked up enough bad ones quickly enough over the last few months and years, so it is vital to give yourself every possibility of picking up good ones. It takes willpower and, more importantly, a reason to want to. A reason to fight yourself when the inevitable opportunity arises to "just skip today". 

Late night stretches

Now I appreciate it is really easy to say that today. Today was day one of my post-run exercise regime - call it about day 12/13 of my overall plan. 

It is also day 30 of blogging (almost) every 24 hours. And day 5 of learning Spanish. These seem small victories, nothing to be proud of really. 

But they are things to be proud of. They are victories, and all victories count. And little breeds bigger.

Every journey has a first step as they say. And a second. They say the first one is the hardest, but maybe that isn't actually the case. Maybe, sometimes, it is that metaphorical second step that can be a bit harder. The one that comes once the euphoria has worn off. The one that follows the honeymoon period. The one when you realise that this isn't a phase, or a fad. 

This is it. The one that really matters. The one that pushes you from something you are trying, to something you are committed to being part of your routine. And every step you take from here becomes easier. Every step is you travelling the path, not trying to find it. And that is so so important. 

You've got to give yourself the best possible opportunity to succeed. The best chance of just quieting that voice in your head. The one we all have. The one that offers the "easy" way out. But nothing worth pushing yourself for should ever be easy, at least not until you've got a few steps down that path. 

Take that second step. Keep rolling. That's the journey we should all strive for.

Till tomorrow, Tom

PS - I feel you back home with Storm Ciara