Back to the Basics.

I'm not going to lie- it hasn't been the best week for me.

 I over booked my schedule, which meant working a night shift followed by a day packed with activities, work at another job, church, family, working out and trying to squeeze in a 3 or 4 hours nap before going back for another night shift and repeating for 4 or 5 days. I'm the queen of making up excuses not to go to social events, so to find myself with a outrageously full schedule is unusual. I love my life and the crazy ups and downs, but this week it kind of got the best of me. To top it all off, I had an extremely horrible run that made me cry and cry and entertain thoughts of throwing in the towel on the 1/2 Marathon.

After two days of missing workouts because I simply couldn't summon the will power to sacrifice any of the 4 hours I had to sleep, to workout, I felt like a complete failure.

By nature, I either push myself like a maniac, or sit back and watch myself win a world record for laziness. I'm trying to learn the positives from both of these extremes but also be aware of the negatives and try and achieve a balanced approach.

This week I am reminding myself of two very important things, two basic truths that I build my health and fitness lifestyle around.

1. Perfection isn't the goal.

It's okay to miss a workout. It's okay to look back and say shoulda would coulda done that differently. If I can't love me today, that won't change when I reach my goals. I'll still feel inadquate. Life is not about the desination, it's about the journey. It's okay to have bad days (or bad weeks, just don't let the whole month go south on you.) and wish that you could just start over.

2. It's about Health.

I love running and lifting weights. I am thrilled to be within 20 pounds of my goal weight. I love eating foods that God created to fuel my body. I love blogging and the networking with other runners, foodies and fellow crazies. But, at the end of the day, it's about health. If I look back over a day where I had a killer workout and ate right, but I only slept for 4 hours--- I'm still missing it. It's not about size 2 jeans, a deadlift PR, or getting that mile under 6 minutes. It's about taking care of my body- this temple of the Holy Spirit- and living life for the journey, not the destination.