So my life is, what are the words? Barely organized chaos. We run from thing to thing, half the time I can’t find my keys and the other half, when I do find them, the car needs gas. The kids are always needing something signed or they need to be driven somewhere or somethings is dirty or a pet has soiled something. Or it’s budget season at work or I’ve booked 3 nights in a row with meetings and Scott’s out of town and we’re eating pizza AGAIN. Can you relate?

The reason for my chaos. This picture is so old but I don’t care. I love it and I will continue to fit it into blog posts as much as humanly possible;).

In other words, there are many many good reason, between my day job and my family, that running and fitness DON’T fit. Do you feel a “but” coming on?

BUT if I don’t do it, I don’t have the energy or the health or the outlook I need to accomplish all the things God has for me to do each day. A LOT of humans, just like you, tell me how they don’t know how I fit it all in. I just do it. And I set aside the lies.

So here they are, the 5 LIES that threaten to keep me from going out the door on any given day:

Lie #1 – I’m too tired. Oh, please. Running has been proven to improve energy and stamina and sleep. I may be too tired when I start, but as any runner will tell you, you always feel better after a run than before.

Lie #2 – I don’t have time. Yes, I do. Folks, my great grandmother was a farmer’s wife. Now SHE didn’t have time. Well, and she did a lot of back breaking manual labor all day long. Would she still be considered a stay at home mom? Wait, that’s a post for another day, never mind. I totally have time.

Lie #3 – I’ll have to do my hair every day if I exercise. OK, I cannot believe how often I’ve heard this and, to be truthful, how many times I’ve thought it myself. Case in point, on Friday, I got my hair done and she did a fabulous job of blowing it out and straightening it (see below) and it lasted . . . one day. Because I had a long run on Saturday and it was completely destroyed. Even the ends were sweaty. Wasteful? Not at all. Being fit feels better than great hair looks.

This lovely hair lasted about 13 hours. Just until my long run. Oh well.

Lie #4 – I don’t have a babysitter for my kids. OK, while this can be a valid excuse for running it’s not an excuse for overall fitness. If you can afford it, most community centers and gyms have daycare and if you can’t, there are a million at home fitness options now, from PIYO to Yoga on demand on Netflix, we can all figure this out. Kids, I had 3 kids under 4 and still made this a priority because if I didn’t, we were all in grave danger. GRAVE DANGER, I tell you! And btw, if you have a spouse, get them on board. I’m betting, if you’re like a lot of us, you don’t have because you do not ask. It’s a big deal for your health and I don’t think they want to end up raising those precious babies without you, right? Maybe a tad over-dramatic but when you look at the stats linking exercise to decreased incidents and increased survival rates for all types of cancer and heart disease? Maybe not so dramatic.

Lie #5 – (and this one is the easiest to fix) I DON’T KNOW HOW TO RUN AND I WILL LOOK STUPID You know what? you might. I’ve been running at least 3X a week in my neighborhood for 5 years and I’m still pretty sure I look like a poser. But what being fit has done for my outlook, my health, my bravery and my attitude makes all the humiliation in the world seem like nothing.

One of my favorite Dr. Phil saying is this, “don’t worry about what other people think of you because they hardly ever do.”

In other words, everybody is so wrapped up in their own lives and their own thoughts, I promise nobody is noticing if you look good or not running around getting fit. And who knows? You might actually inspire someone to stop believing the lies above. And seriously, what could be better than that??

Happy running and truth telling.

Jen