Finding inspiration

On sluggish weekends, I take inspiration wherever I can get it.

Today, it was a quote from basketball great Jerry West. You may not recognize the name, but you've seen him:

That's his silhouette in the NBA logo. He played for the Lakers for 14 years and went on to coach them for five more.

Jerry West said, "You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good."

You know what? He's right.

I felt crappy today. I crawled out of bed late and headed for the gym with all the enthusiasm of someone marching to the gallows. I was going to hate this.

I made it to the treadmill, planning to take it easy for the benefit of my sore legs, and the rest of my body was in complete agreement. I ate a lot of garbage yesterday, so I was lacking energy. I had a hard time keeping my breath. I managed a mile in 14:00.

As I finished up a few minutes later and grudgingly headed for another machine, I realized a couple things.

First, this was one of the worst-feeling miles I've had in a long time and I still finished in 14:00. How great is that?

Second, I was sweating all over the place and breathing heavily. I had worked hard. It was a struggle for my body to accomplish. I may not have set any records, but you'd better believe I'll see results for all the effort. The rate of perceived exertion is a real thing when measuring cardiovascular progress, so today was not for nothing.

If I'm not suffering from joint pain or some sort of communicable illness, I owe it to myself to be at the gym. I owe it to my son, who deserves to have a healthy mom to look after him, and I owe it to my parents, who deserve to have a healthy daughter to support them later in life. I owe it to my trainer, who deserves to have a client who's interested in doing the hard work necessary to make these changes.

Every day, I can do something positive for myself. Even if I'm feeling sick, or tired, or just plain lazy, I can make progress somewhere. And I will.