What's Your Thing? Do What You Wanna Do!

On Saturday morning, Matthew called me and asked to talk to Joe. This was our conversation:

"Hi Babe, how are you?"

"Good, where's Joe?"

"He's running in a race right now."

"Oh, well I wanted to tell him to remember the poppers we got that one time...my teacher gave me some."

"That's cool---I'll tell him. I'm sure he'll remember...."

"Joe's running in a race today?"

"Yep, he'll be back soon though."

"You know, he could ride his bike. That would be much faster than running."

"You're right---I'll tell him you suggested that."

"Yeah, bike riding is much faster than running."

.....

This conversation sparked a thought----we really should take a minute to evaluate why we're doing the things we're doing (Wellness, and otherwise). Why does Joe run in races? To Matthew, action is about getting somewhere the fastest, so if he wanted to be the fastest he should ride a bike instead of run. To Joe, running is a great workout, a challenge, and he just really enjoys it.

To me, running is kind of a chore, kind of a meditation, kind of an emotional relaxation and physical outlet all in one. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I don't. I ran 11 miles on Sunday and throughout the run, I went through the range of emotions---it was hard in the beginning until I was warmed up...then in the middle there were several hills that seriously taxed my ability to stay at my goal pace...then during the last 4 miles it felt like the "home stretch." My feet hurt, I was looking into the sun, my arms were tired....but I felt really pretty good. My end sprint was painful and hard....and exhilarating and satisfying. I walked a lap around the parking lot before getting into the car and going home, and during those moments I knew exactly why I run. Biking just doesn't give me that feeling---for me it's less satisfying and more of a pain in the @$$ :)

For yourself, take a few moments to reflect on what you choose to do, and then take it a few steps further. If your choice is about more than burning calories, this can help you stay the course and re-vamp your motivation. What's your thing?