I Dare You
Wow, you guys have been really adding value to this site. Thanks for all your great comments. Want to know a secret? I didn’t want to go to the gym this morning. It’s snowing. I was a little sore. Y’know. But then, I read all 22 comments from yesterday’s post, and I felt really envigorated. So, if you’re inspired by this site, I’m inspired by what you say here, too. Thanks!
A Challenge!
This came to me on my drive to the gym. I want to challenge everyone who reads this site to something for next week. The end result is that I want to dare you to try something completely new. (This excludes anyone with a marathon or a 1/2 coming up, as we all know, ‘NEVER do anything new on race day.’)
Just one day next week, try something off this list (or similar). Just one day.
*If you are heavy into a cycle of lifting weights, I challenge you to try a cardio program. And, if you’re at the gym, I dare you to walk into one of those classes they have. If you’re working out at home, maybe get a cardio program from the library, or just jump rope and do jumping jacks, or whatever. “Something different” is the goal.
*If you’ve been doing fitness DVDs at home forever and a day, I challenge you to get out to a park (and yes, it’s snowing here in Massachusetts, so this will be a trick). I want you to get out of your comfort zone, your skin.
*Are you a runner? Try a bike. You bike? Try swimming. All these things? You’re a triathlete? Try a weight lifting routine. Try boxing workouts.
*Try eating your two biggest meals at breakfast and lunch and having something REALLY tiny for supper, like maybe just an energy shake or a bar. See if you can swap around WHEN you have your food.
*Try a fruit-only fast. (Unless you’re diabetic or have blood sugar issues). See if you can go a day having nothing but fruit and water. See what your body thinks after the fact.
The idea is that we all get stuck up inside our indentities. I’ve read lots of people’s blogs where they’ll talk about how they identify strongly with their label, be that “runner” or “marathonner” or “cardio queen.” The only bad thing about a label is that you see things from that perspective. Give someone a hammer, and everything looks like a nail.
I’m all for tribal identity. I like seeing little 26.2 stickers on cars. I’m thrilled that there are BANDS of people out there reading each other’s sites because they share common threads (look at anyone’s weight loss page links, and you can click across the earth and back). And yet, I want to see what happens when you completely disregard what you THINK you are, and try something way outside your element.
Are you up for that? Do you have any other twists on this concept? Who’s willing to give that a try, and then report back on it?
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I have done it a number of times, to come out of my comfort zones..but still lack some where. Guess need to push myself even harder!