Me & My low expectations

I laugh sometimes at my new found "low expectations"...and maybe it's why I continually surprise myself. I just don't expect too much anymore...and you know what? I don't think it's really a bad thing.

Let's get a back story of me and my HIGH expectations. I'm a Pisces - a dreamer, a daydreamer, a believer in all that is good and pure - magical even! If you have a definition of Pisces - well...I am it. I have grown up with this belief that there is good in every single person and situation - even when there is absolutely no hope at all - yeah, yeah, yeah - trust me, I know now that it's a fairy-story and I have been burned, crushed, beaten, diappointed, etc. etc...over and over again....so much so that I have learned to curb the higher expectations and lower them down a bit....life isn't all sunshine and roses....I get that. Trust me, I get it. I can daydream up any fancy scenario you want for anysituation...and guess what? it never really comes out the way I plan! LoL So, therefore, you can see how I had to change my expectations a little bit.

Sooooo....I have lowered my expectations a bit. I'm happier because of it. Here's some examples:

I love doing things more spontaneous - can't daydream about something if you just do it, right? no expectations to live up to.

I don't (never have & never will) post the rock-hard ab pictures on my wall as a motivator because....you know what??? I'd just get depressed looking at it - whatever I do is WAY better than what I wasn't doing at all before. Get it??? I get it - I'm NEVER going to maintain that kind of committment of training as a mom of 3. Sure, there are people out there who can do that, but I'm also a realist - that person is NOT me.

I like my concept of "Maintainability" - basically defined as as life that I can live and be happy with, without killing myself at the gym and still have a glass of wine and a chip when I want to...without guilt, because the next day, I will go back to doing my maintainable routine I have grown to love, honor, and cherish up until this point in time.

When I get to workout and sweat - it is ALL good. It's NOT consistent...because it is LIFE! Depending on the month, I can go hog wild and be steady, and then there are the nutty/crazy months, where all I want is to sit and be still....because in some way, shape, or form....my workout consisted of running around like a loon prepping this or that or whatknot for some function or other. I might not have "worked out" per se, but in reality - I never sat down either! Active....is good. Active still burns calories!

Quick story: today, I had my workout gear on with the BEST intentions of getting some sort of walk in - my legs are still sore from Sunday's impromptu/spontaneous run I got in during my son's lacross game - so I figured, why not stretch them out at the very least (note my low expectation). Hey, sometimes I put on my gear & never get on the treadmill - depending on what pops up...I used to have these high expections and all...and got bummed pretty good too when I didn't get to workout.(See? high expectation bummer = not good)

So I noted on the kid's school calendar that they were doing a "Mileage Walk" to kick off Healthy Habits month...walk around the field as many times as you can in a half hour & they tally up the miles. Cute idea. And I had no intention of going if it were raining. In fact, I didn't even tell the kids about it...because then, if we didn't, then THEY would be bummed. So after the lunches were packed, the backpacks ready, the kids' showered, fed, and dressed...and even I was fed at this point...and it was time to go to the busstop...and it wasn't raining either...well.....I just drove right past the busstop and went right to the field with the kids! All of them were: "Mom???? What are we doing?" and then I explained to them the Mileage Walk and they were all excited to do it! YAY!!!

There, we saw a bunch of kids they knew, mom's I knew...and being I was in workout gear with a hat on my head - noone knew it was me until the last second! LoL (that was pretty funny) And so we started the walk....I had no intention of running, and then....I did. I ran to catch up with this kid...and then that kid...and then this one and that one again....and before I knew it, 20 minutes and 2 miles flew by in the blink of an eye! No joke!!

It was the coolest thing too. I was a bit in schock when I asked the gym teacher how long we were there doing this and he said "20 minutes" ... my kids all logged over a mile and a half - my oldest ran a bunch and almost made 3 miles himself!! Everyone was smiling and glowing too..and they felt great being apart of something they didn't think about doing!

My low expection became a grin on my face...Anything sometimes is better than nothing....and all of those little "anythings" grow into bigger "somethings".

I don't think I will ever claim myself to be a "runner" - I am timid at best because I don't want to get hurt....but I will say that I am a "tryer" - moreso than I ever was in my life.