A few days ago I took a morning walk, despite the frigid waking temperature of twenty-one degrees. I deliberated for about an hour to get my courage up. The sun was shining, however, and my need to be out walking with a bright, warm glow on my face was greater than my resistance to
embracing the cold.
I finished my walk filled with a sense of exuberance, soaking up the last sun-filled steps with a victory in my pocket and my self-esteem boosted for having put my needs ahead of my fears. I could have let the resistance win, which would have left me feeling restlessness and unfulfilled. But feeling inspired and triumphant is a much better day way to approach the day.
How often do we not pursue the things we really want or need because of the challenges we would have to overcome?
Unfortunately, I’m not always on the winning side of reluctance. As much as I love painting, I often struggle to give myself adequate studio time as part of a lifelong battle to let myself have fun and create.
Yesterday was one of those days. My plan was to work on year-end tax prep for a few hours, and then as a reward, take a break and go up to play in my studio for at least ten or fifteen minutes. I had even picked out a fun art project to delight my inner artist, one that wouldn’t bear any pressure about making something “gallery-worthy.”
Taking a break from doing tax prep after just a few hours was difficult. Once I got going, I wanted to keep going and do nothing but work on that all day. I learned early on to work, work, work in order to keep earning my place on this earth, while supporting the false belief that there is no time for rest or fun.
It would have been easy for me to skip the play-time reward, as I've done many times in the past. Instead, I utilized my accountability support system and committed to leave my desk and take a short break in my studio, after first getting some lunch. But when I was done eating, I continued to procrastinate my studio time, not keeping my word to myself.
I sent another text within my accountability support network to restate my intentions about the reward I had promised myself, hoping that would help me get unstuck. I didn’t even need to wait for a response. Acknowledging my resistance to another human being was enough to help me get moving in the right direction.
Ironically, one of the last distractions keeping me from my studio had been looking at social media, where I had stumbled upon a painting and was inspired by an artist’s neutral palette. Distraction turned to inspiration, accountability sealed the deal, and I was able to take action and go into my happy place. I stayed there for several hours and created the work in progress I'm sharing below. Woo hoo!
It’s always worth it when we can push through the resistance to get to the fruit beyond the struggle.
Set yourself up for a win today. Let it boost your spirit, build your self esteem, and encourage pushing through to daily victories more often, big and small.
