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How many of you reading this have said "I'm a fair weather person" or used the elements as an excuse to not be active outdoors?
"It's too hot...."
"It's too cold..."
"It's too windy..."
"It's raining..."
"It's damp..."
That being said, I'm here to ask (especially those of you in the Quinte region at the start of May 2022...):
"Have you been active outside lately??"
I'm hoping many reading this can say "Yes! I sure have!". But for those who say "nope!", I'd like you to (honestly) think about that answer for a minute. Take a minute or two, or more to ask yourself a serious and honest question: "If I said no, what's my true reason?" Weather is NOT a reason this month in the first 11-days of May this year. So what truthfully IS your reason?? Ask yourself this.
Maybe you're "busy"... Maybe you just "haven't felt like it"... Whatever your reason, I think it's worth sitting down to TRULY look at your HABIT of "Why you don't get outdoors". And if it's NOT honestly the weather, maybe now you can better understand how to approach being able to incorporate more outside time into your day, by tackling the real reason(s).
I don't believe in "perfect" by any means. But let me tell you, the weather lately is as close to perfect as we can get here in South-Eastern Ontario;
-Not too hot
-Not too cold
-Blue sky and sunshine
-Flowers, buds on the trees and other plants springing to life
-Birds singing all hours of the day
-No rain
-Little to no wind
I was out for a wander in the woods this morning between client sessions, and I was thinking about it. "No way can someone say this weather does not 'meet their standards' to get outdoors! I'm sorry, I simply don't see that as a viable reason right now, this time of year". It made me think that so often in my career I've encountered that situation where someone uses the weather as their reason to NOT be active outdoors, yet the deeper, real reasons are very different.
When we get good at finding an excuse, we get good at USING excuses more often than we even realize.
It's the same old thing; You become good at the things you practice most often. Rather than waiting for "perfect weather" or "the motivation to get outdoors" we actually have to TAKE ACTION and get out there. Experiment. See what feels good. See what you enjoy doing outdoors. Once you take those action steps, you'll begin to feel the motivation falling into place all by itself - without any additional energy or thought attached.
We overlook the power of our internal thoughts, mindset and dialogue. So much so that it impacts our success/failures in our health practices. If we don't look at the underlying truths, and we simply allow ourselves to listen and use our own excuses, progress and/or success will keep getting pushed further away.