Don’t Overthink It…Just Make It Happen

Hi Passion Fit Crew! I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a little while since my last blog post. Why, you ask? You know…work, marriage and family, parenting and household responsibilities, kid’s activities, exercise, appointments, volunteering, social plans and general life busyness, I guess. However, I really miss writing and connecting with you guys, so I prioritized some time this chilly and cloudy Sunday morning after breakfast, while my kids are snuggling in blankets and watching a movie and before I go out for a run. 🙂

My topic for today centers around not overthinking things and just making them happen in our lives. And me writing this blog post today is an effort to practice what I preach. Too often in life, we get so caught up in the daily grind that we stop doing the things we love or that bring us true joy, fulfillment, peace and happiness. When our to-do lists continue to grow and life responsibilities pile up at an overwhelming rate, it’s easy to cut out the things that are “nice to haves” and prioritize what we think are the “necessities.” However, what ends up happening is we spend the majority, if not all, of our time doing things we have to get done and end up feeling exhausted, burnt out, resentful, cranky and somehow cheated out of the good things in life. I admit to feeling this way on more occasions than I’d like. Can anyone else relate?

Well, Passion Fit Crew, we’re all going to do something about this and I’m here to help you guys! I recently wrote in my journal and made a list of healthy habits and things I’ve enjoyed doing throughout my life that I know make me happy, in an effort to get them back into my world in a more consistent way. My hope is by continuing to make a choice to do these things on a regular basis, they’ll become second nature to me. Then I won’t have to think so much about doing them because they’ll be automatically built into my days and weeks.

Often times we overthink things and think about all the reasons why we can’t or shouldn’t do them….too busy, too expensive, too much time, not enough time, spouse’s needs, kids’ needs, don’t want to be selfish, let others down, over-indulge…and the list goes on and on. However, there’s one extremely good reason to do the things we love….they’ll make us HAPPY. And by being truly happy, we’ll be healthier and better versions of ourselves in order to be better parents, significant others, sons, daughters, siblings and teammates, we’ll better at our jobs and volunteer work…we’ll be better at LIFE.

So in an effort to help you guys build healthy habits and things you love to do into your lives, I’m going to share my list with you. Here it is:

—Exercise at home in the mornings before work every weekday – this can be high intensity interval training, pilates, barre, sculpting or yoga (I often do my own Passion Fit workouts or workout videos, especially from my company, Grokker.com)

—On the weekends, go for runs, walks or hikes or head to the gym and take a dance or fitness class (note: I’ll soon be teaching my own classes again)

—Pray every morning

—Put away screens and read, meditate and breath every night before going to bed (I do this with my kids too)

—Get massages a few times a month

—Take bubble baths or sit in a hot tub a few times a month

—Light a scented candle at dinner time when cooking and eating with my family

—Write in my journal weekly and write out three things I’m grateful for every day

—Spend time each day connecting with my kids and husband – talking, walking, playing outside, eating together, watching a movie together, etc.

—Call/text/make plans/reach out to my extended family and friends weekly

—Listen to music in my car, while I cook, exercise or work

Now, am I perfect about doing all of these things every single day, week or month as I’d like to? No, certainly not all of them. But, I do most of these things on a very regular basis and the more I do them, the more built into my day, week or month they become. And when I don’t do most of these things, I definitely feel the difference in my energy, moods and outlook. So my advice is to not expect perfection or get down on yourself if you can’t do something you want on a particular day. We’re all human and life can get busy and complex sometimes. However, be self-aware, really make the effort and give yourself the gift of doing the things you love because you all deserve it and are worth it.

So with that…don’t overthink it….just make it happen!

I’m signing off for now, but I’ll be back soon with my next blog post.

XOXO,

Reena