Life is Short

 

Recently, I stumbled across a quote from Dr. Phil with a blunt message: “If you want more, you have to require more from yourself.”¹ And it has helped me to get a better grip on what it is I want [more of]. Because life is short, and I’m not getting any younger. So, that makes the time to act now.

Being Stuck

At different points in my life, I’ve felt stuck. Like no matter what I did, or how often I did it, I wasn’t moving forward. There was progress, and a number of successes, but I hadn’t achieved what I wanted to or, more importantly, what I believed I was capable of. Then, as I watched time passing by, I’d get frustrated and fall into a funk. And the worst part about a funk is a) not realizing you’re in one, and b) once you realize it, not being sure how to pull yourself out.

If only, in those crushing moments, I had the hindsight to see that I wanted more but wasn’t requiring more from myself. I’d repeat mantras like, ‘Life is short’ or ‘Seize the day,’ but they only provided momentary bursts of momentum. But it never took long, after the excitement wore off, for me to fall back into old routines and old habits that were holding me back—and giving me less, not more, of what I wanted.

Life is Short

It is a slow, and at times agonizing, process, but I am requiring more of myself. When it comes to running, I’m no longer settling for the short, 4k runs I’d been putting in. I’m pushing myself to run further and longer because I want to be healthy. And believe me, those longer runs aren’t easy, and I often feel like quitting. But what will quitting get me?

At the publication of this blog, I’m on a nine-day streak of avoiding refined sugars. When I brought in a cheesecake to celebrate a colleague’s birthday, it was hard, hard, to pass up a slice and eat my apple instead. But I had to ask myself, what’s more important? Indulging today or living a longer, healthier life?

Remember, life is short. So, ask yourself every day what you want, and then require more from yourself to get it.

1. https://everydaypower.com/short-inspirational-quotes/ [↩]