I am an achiever and as an achiever, I don’t allow anything to get in my way of reaching my goals, but I came upon an article on TheMuse.com which reminded me of how not too long ago, my goals were nearly drowning me. About two years ago, I decided to go back to school while keeping my full time job in addition to work and my responsibilities to my husband and four kids. Trying to juggle all of that at once was a bit challenging and I found myself slowly drowning at times, then gradually floating to catch my breath. I I reached a point where I decided to do something with my health and exercise seemed like a great idea at the time. I wanted to take advantage of the free classes offered at my work, but my work took priority over my workout.
There is a hadith in Sahih Bukhari, Book #76, Hadith #421, that reads:
Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas: The Prophet (SAW) said, “There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) health and free time for doing good.”
As an achiever, I like to challenge myself and do things that are new and different, but I also realized that I needed to preserve my health. My work was offering a boot camp class over the summer twice a week for three weeks and I decided that was an interesting challenge for me as I haven’t worked out in a long time and it was only for a short period of time. I enrolled in the class and was even more motivated by working with a group of colleagues whom I had never met before.
Looking back, I can say that I made it through a rigorous boot camp without previous experience and more importantly, I challenged myself and proved to that “yes, you can fit exercise into your schedule and enjoy it too.” For two years now I was enrolled in kickboxing and tabata classes for 45 minutes each per week. At the time I didn’t realize how helpful these activities were for keeping me focused on work and providing me with a boost of energy. In order for me to keep the momentum, I did what Josh did: dedicated time and blocked it on my calendar for my workout. I haven’t yet regretted doing so as I’m able to sleep better, be more productive and efficient.
I’m done with school now, but my responsibilities at work have expanded and my physical workouts are exactly what I need to keep my sanity, and to maintain good health.
About a year ago, I lost one of my best friends to breast cancer. She was a very dedicated wife and mother. She was a stay at home mom who was running all over the place taking care of her kids and house needs. Unfortunately, she left taking care of herself as the last thing to worry about. She refused to follow her doctor’s orders of getting regular health checks as she didn’t think she needed that. When she was suffering from a chronic cough she decided to check on it only to discover that she was in one of the later stages of breast cancer! She had a very strong faith and kept fighting it by attempting to eat better and exercise, but it was too late and the cancer began to spread through her body. She passed away last September leaving her husband and three kids behind. This was a very big lesson for me. In order for me to provide for others and ensure that they are being taken care of I need to care for myself first in order to gain the strength to give back.
