Someone who is busier than you is running right now

Some days I find it hard to find time for exercise. Like every mom – no matter the size of the family - I find that life with four kids and their various schools (three) and sports (four) and activities (three) makes each day chaotic and busy. If I sleep in, or something throws me off-schedule – the kids have a fight, or a stomach ache, or lost a toothbrush – I can almost feel the minutes getting sucked out of my day and the time I’ll have for exercise shrinking smaller and smaller. 

Even when things do go well and I’m almost set to go for a run things can quickly go awry.  I find myself tying the laces of my runners at the same time as picking up a forlorn sock here, a pencil off the floor there or sweeping up a fairytale trail of crumbs through the house. Before I know it I’ve spent forty-five minutes doing small – and mostly unnoticable – clean ups instead of enjoying some fresh air and sweating out stress. 

I recently came across these two Nike ads which I think are a great reminder that busyness is only a state of mind and that not only do we need to take good care of ourselves first in order to take good care of our families, but that it should be a priority to do so.

 Tomorrow, I’ll be leaving the little messes for the kids to clean up – instead of doing it for them. I think that learning to respect my own needs will be a good lesson for all of us.

See you on the trails,

Melanie