Friday, August 8, 2014

What I'm Doing in the Morning and Why

It has been a little while since I read Laura Vanderkam's What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and Two Other Short Guides to Achieving More at Work and Home, and I have a renewed sense of the wisdom behind the following quotation and other useful tidbits in her book:

"If it has to happen, it has to happen first."

I've been reading books about self-improvement since college, and I understand much of what Vanderkam writes about in her book.  However, as humans go, I was not always putting the wisdom in practice.

What's different now?

My newborn baby is now six months old.  I have grocery shopped with all three children.  (Including a grocery shopping trip where I had to locate numerous new items!  Not an autopilot, regular selections trip!  Hurrah!)  I feel ready to lean into a little more activity, strengthen some habits, and renew focus on life goals.

What do you want to do?

I pray daily, but it can be spotty.

I don't exercise. (Well, I didn't.  I do now!)  At all.  Unless you count carrying around a baby, occasionally in a carrier.

I homeschool and spend quite a bit of time with my children.

We would like more kids.  We are near forty.  We need to be stronger, fitter to keep up with young children and thrive through long days and sleepless nights.

Thus, if we want to exercise and be fit for ourselves and for our kids, we have to make exercise happen first.  We need the strength and centering God graces us with through prayer to live how we want to live with our kids. 

Call me successful!  My morning walk combines:

- fresh air
- quiet, alone time (no headphones!  only sounds of nature and community right now)
- exercise
- prayer time (Yep, that's me talking to myself and occasionally consulting the prayer list on my iPhone.)
- time to think

Things could change, as always, but this is great for now.  I consider this a win.  Thanks for the inspiration, Ms. Vanderkam.  Check out her book.  It is well-written.




What about you?  Do you count carrying the baby as exercise?  My midwife didn't buy that as an exercise routine.  ;)  What's your morning routine?  Can you relate?  Are you looking at your habits?









2 comments:

  1. Hi Anne, thanks for commenting on my blog! I'm also a big fan of Laura V's books, especially this one.

    I DO count babywearing/carrying as exercise, but I prefer to think in terms of "movement" instead of exercise. Movement is like the whole foods diet and exercise is like vitamins. Does that make sense?

    Little bits of movement all day long do a whole lot of good... not only for weight control and strength but also for staving off diseases of sedentary habits. I've gotten a lot of great info from this site: KatySays.com that has changed my thinking about these things. You might enjoy it!

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    1. You are welcome! :-)

      Sure, that makes sense. I've not really heard it put that way before. I will look at that website- thanks!

      (Does this mean if I forget to take my vitamins, I can forget about exercise sometimes, too? Hahaha! Just kidding.)

      Thanks for commenting!

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