Give up when you don't feel it today?
"I’m really not feeling it today!"
That was what I said to myself this morning. As part of the Sisyphi Camps, I was supposed to get up at 6 AM and ride my Peloton bike. But this morning, I would rather scratch my face against an unpeeled pineapple for 30 minutes than get on that bike. I got a headache, so bad that I wanted to take a pregnancy test just for the sake of it. I was also thirsty but was too lazy to walk down the kitchen to drink water. When thirst and laziness collide, it’s top misery.
Something inside tells me, “man, I’ve got to listen to my own feelings. Today is not the day for exercise. You deserve to rest and feel good. You can still do it tomorrow!”
Then I remembered my spreadsheet. I needed the “1” next to my Getting Up By 6 AM goal today.
That incentive was enough for me to get on the Peloton. The video started playing, and this cheeseball instructor started his fake smile and playing 80s rock music. But anyway, I started pedaling, disregarding my feelings. The timer on the one-hour ride started counting. Before I could quit or dig deeper into my feelings, I was 20 minutes in.
Moreover, my feelings changed. The headache was gone, my energy was elevated, and I was in a much better mood. And the more I pedaled, the more fired up I was. When the music stopped, and the clock hit zero, I had ridden for 20 miles, burnt 697 kcal, and got to be #2 on the leaderboard.
And I felt like a million bucks with sweat rolling down my body like a mighty stream.
(OK I realized the above sentence makes no sense. But I just rewatched I Have a Dream speech in preparation for MLK Day. I just love the words "mighty stream.")
A lot of times, we let our feelings dictate our actions. We tell ourselves to “be true to our feelings.” But feelings are fickle and are as reliable as a dog guarding a steak. More importantly, we can positively impact our feelings just by taking action.
So instead of letting feelings determine our actions, let’s use our actions to determine our feelings.