Today I proved to myself once and for all that attitude really is everything. Well, not literally everything. I mean, I did use my muscles to lift those weights, but I had a great workout because I was prepared mentally. Despite everything, I got up out of bed and got to it! I had to in order to defeat the unnecessary physical challenge I setup for myself; starting a new round of exercise with a more difficult version of P90X, on a workday morning, after a week long break from exercising, and a weekend full of beer, wine, pizza, cookies, chips, and my old friend, M&M's. Not so smart.
To begin with, getting out of bed is always a struggle for me. There's no magic word, pill, or cure that puts me into a "sunshine day" kind of mood first thing in the morning, which is why I'm now addicted to caffeine. Since I'm still stuck working one day a week at my daytime job (because my bosses took longer than I expected picking my replacement), I had no choice but to wake up early enough to workout before going into the office. I knew that the longer I waited throughout the day, the harder it would be to workout. Very smart.
I also chose this same week to try to kick my caffeine habit. Yikes. Sure, I've already quit my day job but that doesn't mean I have the right to act like an asshole. Even to a self-righteous, over-the-hill, fake, phony, bitchy, old queen working the last job he'll ever have. Oops, it's happening already. Not so smart.
On the other hand, my goals include total independence. That means throwing away my last adult security blanket, or at least putting it away until I can learn to enjoy the occasional mint mocha instead of handing my paycheck over to the nearest Starbucks. Since I've already discovered that quitting cold turkey, in my case, only leads to cheating then guilt then splurging, I've developed a different plan. I've decided to stop drinking coffee drinks, drink as much water as I can throughout the day, and see how I feel. If I'm chugging along, high on life, great! If not, I'll grab a diet soda, until the day when I don't need any caffeine. Pretty smart, eh?
We shall see. Today I lasted until 1:30 p.m. when I walked to the 7/11 to buy a Diet Dr. Pepper...and a bag of Cheddar Cheese Combos...cause I didn't eat a real breakfast after my workout...and I had chips and salsa with my very late lunch...and though I killed the Chest & Back workout (my first workout of Round 2), I skipped the Ab workout cause I didn't have enough time before work...cause I woke up too late...cause I didn't get enough sleep the night before...cause I was watching TV shows.
So I'm not 100% when it comes to self-discipline...yet. But with the right attitude, I've found that I can push myself much harder than I can when I let my dark side take over. Not every day is perfect, but I did kick serious ass doing push-ups today. And pull-ups. In fact, I busted my ass today! And from now on, when I slip up, I'm going to recognize it, admit it, and move on instead of beating myself up over it like I used to. Because it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. And I'm confident that when I get to the finish line, not only will I go the extra mile, I'll go the extra mile every day in every aspect of my life; in my career, in my art, and with my friends and family.
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About Briana
- Briana O'Connor
- Born and raised in Detroit, MI, Briana began writing at an early age. She studied Creative Writing and Journalism throughout grammar school, writing an advice column and serving as a Copy Editor for her school newspaper. Briana attended Western Michigan University's Musical Theatre Performance program before heading to New York City to pursue a career in theatre and music. Writing music with the Chad Parson Band inspired her to focus her energy on other forms of writing she had left behind; poetry, short stories, and eventually short film. She was privileged to study Poetry Writing with poet and novelist Laurie Wagner Buyer and was honored to receive an internship with E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist for Elle Magazine. In 2006, Briana co-founded Bigger Baby Productions, a small internet-based company focused mainly on short comedic film. On January 1st of 2008, she made the cross-country move from NYC to LA to pursue a career in film and television. Briana currently resides in Santa Monica with her dog, Howie, and recently finished her first marathon!
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