Refresh and Rally

As much as I LOVE springing forward into long, warm spring days, sometimes the actual resetting of my body clock is not so much fun. This year, it was kind of a total failure.

After:

-staying up way too late
-sleeping way too late
-briefly waking up to walk the dog
-and then immediately taking a 3 hour nap

I made a pretty good mess of the first long day of the year. I still felt groggy after waking up and didn't quite know what to do with myself. I puttered, read blogs, looked out the window at productive people, and generally succeeded in wasting even more time.  By 5pm I hadn't eaten anything and I felt like crap (what a shock!). I ordered some food and chatted with my mom, and both managed to make me feel a little better. I knew I didn't have much time left, but I wanted to make SOMETHING out of the day.

I did something unusual and hopped in an early evening shower.

This is not my shower, this is a room at The Standard LA. It has glass walls that look out on the room and fits at least 4 people. It is made for peep shows and par-tays! I used it to watch Seinfeld reruns while washing my hair.

Usually I jump in the shower right before bed or right after a workout, but for some reason I felt like I needed the refreshing, cleansing action of a good shower.  And I was RIGHT!  Just taking 10 minutes gave me the clean slate and renewed energy I was hoping for. I managed to rally and hit my to-do list pretty hard: walked and fed the dog, straightened up around the house, cleaned the floors, took out a mountain of recycling, did 2 loads of laundry, ran the dishwasher (ooh, I love saying that...probably the only time in my life I will have a dishwasher and I want to relish it!), and even made a little light dinner for myself.

It is amazing how one small thing had such an impact on my mindset and my energy level, and I know that this is exactly what a good workout does for me as well. This was a lesson I learned in graduate school, and it has proven true time and again. If I am feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and unfocused, I find the best thing to do is to make some time for the gym. An hour later I am energized, totally re-focused, and ready to tackle ANYTHING! Hooray for endorphins!

I'm going to take this lesson with me as I work on building more workouts into my schedule. Working out is great for my body but it is SOOO important for my mental health and mindset. And if a clear mind means a happier, healthier peacock...why wouldn't I make working out a priority???