What if I pushed myself everyday?

I walked 1.1 miles today!

I didn’t add the extra distance on purpose, I thought I was trying a new route, and I got down the street a little, and realized it didn’t go through, so I had to turn around, which added a little extra to my distance.

The interesting part is that it wasn’t any harder than one mile was for me yesterday.

The human body is amazing! Really! I’m always amazed the day after I push myself to do something, that very next day if I do it again, it’s easier. Our muscles really can improve after just one time. So I fully expected my one mile walk today to be a little bit easier – and I was looking forward to it. And I figured it would just keep getting easier and easier, until it felt comfortable. And THEN I’d push myself again!

But today, wasn’t any easier because I added that one-tenth of a mile – in fact, it was just as hard as the day before had been. But the BIG difference, is that for the same amount of effort, I went a tenth of a mile further. Interesting!

What if I pushed myself everyday? Yes, everyday would be hard and I wouldn’t get to enjoy those days when it gets a little easier and starts to get comfortable. But, the tradeoff would be improving faster. Pretty nice tradeoff. So maybe it’s a good idea?

But what are the risks? Well, if it’s tough everyday, then I might get tired of pushing so hard. If it’s too unpleasant, I might give up entirely. On the other hand, if I go too slow, and don’t push myself as much, then my progress will be slower, and then I run the risk of not seeing enough positive change, and so giving up.

I think I’m going to go for the middle – take the best of both – and make it work for me. I will plan on pushing myself everyday – adding a tenth of mile each day. But if I ever have a day where I don’t want to walk at all, and feel like it’s just too tough – then on that day I won’t add any additional distance – I’ll just stay where I was the day before, and enjoy the fact that it’s a little bit easier the second time.

I admire those people who decide to do something, and then just do it. They don’t need to think about motivation or losing interest, or wonder if pushing too hard will backfire. They’re super-humans! But I’m not one of them, and I know that – so I do think about these things – a lot!

Pink Bougainvillea // Photo: Cheryl Spelts

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