You gained weight over the crappy Ohio winter.
You hurt your shoulder, knee, ankle or toe and had to rest it or have surgery.
You got a scary diagnosis and went through treatment.
You got out of shape.
You traded your toned arms for flaps because you forgot to lift weights for six months.
It happens! To all of us.
Here's what we do. We take the most dis-empowering thought/translation of this situation and we beat ourselves up with it over and over again.
I have to start over completely.
It's back to square one.
It's like I never made any progress at all.
I've lost it.
If I know anything, it's this. Just because I have a thought, doesn't make it true.
Just because I think I have to start over, doesn't make it true.
I can keep going, instead!
I started this fitness journey a long time ago. So did you. Guess what? We're still in it. Right now, even if we're not doing anything about it at the moment. Even if we're stuck, or on injured reserve, or totally checked out.
We're still in it.
We never stopped.
Relapse is a very important part of recovery. It teaches you what to do (and what not to do) when you veer off course.
When I veer off course, I course-correct. I don't go all the way back to the beginning and start over.
I couldn't start over if I tried. I know too much. I've learned to much.
But I can keep going! Of yes, that's where Empowerment lives. In the keepin' going. The empowerment warriors out there are the ones who know and practice this one. Things go wrong. The road from here to there is never straight. But she doesn't quit and she doesn't start over.
She chooses the empowering thought that inspires and motivates her to do what she can, right here, right now. With all the obstacles standing before her, she says, "I am going to carry on. I am going to keep going. I will never, ever quit."
Carry on, warriors.