January 24, 2012 Bright sunny Tuesday here in Charlottesville. This kind of weather would have been much appreciated on my 10-hour drive home yesterday, but at least the predicted wintry mix never materialized on my route. The worst of it was the fog cloud on Afton Mountain, so thick it swallowed all but about a foot of light beam from my headlights.  But I made it through, into the clear air of the other side.

What a metaphor.

Life goes along smoothly, with perhaps a warning that fog is coming. You can't really believe it when the fog hits. You slow down, crawl on your knees and push forward - and then you get through.

Julian (my 12-year-old) and I spent the weekend in Vermont with my grandmother. Marge is 92 and failing, and I wanted to see her again. Maybe we'll get to "say goodbye" again in February, and again in April, and again in the summer . . . maybe not. Take advantage of what you can NOW. Say I love you, hug away. Will you really ever regret that?

While I was there, I was doing my workouts faithfully, getting in Kenpo X in Marge's living room while Julian was chatting with her in her bedroom, working her oxygen like a pro. I'm at the point with my exercising that I can't really fathom NOT doing it, so taking the discs and the bands, my shoes and sweaty t-shirt - that's a given. A no-brainer. It doesn't hurt my motivation at all to know that I'm 3 weeks from being DONE with P90X, or that I have a couple of groups of friends cheering me on. So I modify the high-impact stuff and keep going.

It was a little tough, I have to admit. Laura, one of Marge's caregivers, was watching and asking questions. My aunt was almost tempted to join me. Jaz (a wiggly yellow lab) kept thinking I was about to play with her. I was aware, always, of Marge in the other room, not out of bed, tethered (temporarily) to an oxygen tank. I am not sure my best on that day rivaled my best on other days.

But when I was done and showered, Laura asked me more questions. "If I can get results like that," she said, pointing to my back muscles, "I'm in." My mother was inspired to do the bike/treadmill/rowing machine at home, 2 days in a row. My aunt, a lifelong smoker, asked a few questions about getting fit.

Marge squeezed my biceps.

And my advice to each of them? Start TODAY. Not tomorrow. What can you do TODAY? I can promise you that in April of 2011, I didn't have this toned body. And if you do something today, you're a step closer to what you want. No good whining about what you didn't do.

The something I did this weekend? Said I love you a lot of times to an amazing woman who is my grandmother. Watched my son be present and caring. Listened to my husband and my daughter make homemade guacamole (they called 4 times in 5 minutes as they were making it - it counts.) Continued my fitness journey, which really is about being FIT to do . . . anything.

Might be the fog, might be the clearing.

 

What do YOU want to be doing?

 

Cheers,

Nica