My Ultimate Health Project - Week 10 - Staying on track

The last few weeks it has probably been clear that what I am choosing for my "topic" is being driven by what's been going on in my life. I didn't necessarily intend for the project to happen organically, rather I thought that I would plan out my 12 weeks in terms of my mental and physical well being and how that relates to my cancer and see what I uncovered along the way. 

Actually what has happened is a deeper knowledge and understanding at the beginning of the project around the things that I value and hold important to me such as gratitude, nutrition and my own learning and educating. Then it started to morph into something else as my "real-life" resumed, my integration back into the world at large, the care for my son, my job, finding time for exercise, cooking and my semblance of a social life started to happen. Suddenly my order and planning slipped regardless of my intentions, talking about certain issues like navigating financial wellness and medical expenses (a topic I had previously chosen) just didn't sit right with me when I was struggling and had an overall lack of energy. So I pivoted, changed direction, realized I needed to dig deep and preserver if completing my project was something I wanted to do, which I did / do. 

This change of direction and more apt topic made me realize that my lessons are happening in real time, in life around me right now and it's not about remaining rigid and unbending and sticking to the plan but instead learning how to identify where the lessons exist and my own response to that.

It also made me realizes that set back still happen, even after something as horrible as cancer. Maybe the set backs aren't quite as large as that but they are still set backs, they still affect me, I'm not immune, I have a new perspective granted but it's not all kittens and mittens and rainbows over here. There are still the average, everyday struggles that we all suffer with and they are just as much of a pain in the ass now as they were before the cancer.

So all that pre-amble leads me to what I am thinking about this week which is staying on track. In thinking about this project and feeling like I had lost my way both in focus and dedication and how I would figure that out, I thought that similar principles could be applied to many aspects of life where you may find yourself wandering off track. Healthy eating, fitness routines, personal pursuits. Typically when life happens and time becomes constrained we start to reprioritize unconsciously. tackling Items and things we consider "must dos" such as our jobs, feeding our children, paying bills. There becomes little time for other activities and we wander off track.

In all of this the first thing I have recognized is that it's really ok that I wander off track sometimes. Rather than beat myself up that I've missed some self imposed deadline of posting my topic update on a weekly basis I've instead let it slide because it happened. No one died, it's not a tragic mistake. What's actually more key was the recognition in myself that I wanted to get it back on track, that I was still committed to it. Being able to answer the question of "is this important to me and something that will benefit me in a mental or physical way?" was far more constructive for me than just kicking myself verbally in my own head for "failing".

Staying on track is really about the long game. Figuring out what's important to you and refocussing at an appropriate point. Short term quitting may seem like a more palatable answer but rarely will you be glad that was the decisions that you took a month later.

So here I am, several days late but still in the game and THAT is the important part.

What's my objective this week?
To figure out what will help me stay on track.