I wish I was referring to Spelunking, but sadly, no. This has been an emotional month. The state of the world has weighed heavy on my heart. Add some personal losses and looming deadlines…tick, tick, tick, boom: the perfect storm for self-sabotage… I caved BIG TIME.
Indulged in comfort food: check.
Skipped a few workouts: check.
Procrastinated on my to-do list: check.
I dive deeper into the why we self-sabotage in my 12- week coaching course, but for the purpose of this blog, let me share what happened next.
Typically, I mentally beat myself up for any snags in my best intentions, or worse; I will throw my hands up in defeat. An alternative I have been working on these last few years is doing the F word…Forgiveness.
Letting myself off the hook was never an option for me. I am still really bad at it, but practice makes permanent and on Friday I practiced hard.
Hey, I missed the gym but made it out the door. I drove past Dutch Bros and there was only one person in line! (For those of you who are familiar with Dutch Bros know this is an anomaly). I made a split-second decision and turned into the drive-thru. This is your do-over, Shelly. Fresh start, starting now. I placed an order and drove away with a warm beverage. Now that was some easy, rewarding forward momentum,…how can I keep this going? The top of the lid read, “we’re in this together.” That lifted my spirits. I quickly started a gratitude list in my head. Soon, everything I passed on the road made the list: kids playing rugby before school, the sunrise dancing on the red mountains, the snow-kissed trees…
By the time I got to work I was energized and ready to seize the day. I accomplished a lot and even made it to the gym after work. Giving myself a do-over made me more productive and stopped the vicious cycle of procrastination that would have continued if I had punished myself for falling short of my goals.
Forgiveness of self is still an art form I have yet to master, but I’m going to keep working on it. I hope the next time you go “caving”, you will give forgiveness a try.
-Wing Woman
Wing Woman 
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