Great = Get Real Evaluate All Thoughts
Great: Markedly superior in character, quality or skill. Excellent. Webster’s Dictionary has a few meanings listed for the word “ Great”. It can also mean “large” or “big” and “being beyond average”. When someone greets you often they will say “ how are you today” and very often the response is “ great, I’m just great”. Sounds kind of braggy when you look at the above definitions. “How are you Steve?” Oh, Ted I am superior and beyond average and maybe a touch big today” It’s the no brainer response that we all use, because truly your response is to be polite and not give Ted your dissertation of the quality of your life. “ Well, Ted since you asked, I am having recurrent gout in my feet, my cat keeps missing the litter box and my driver’s license was revoked because I have macular degeneration and I keep running into parked cars” Great….Steve…that’s just great.
I have come up with my own rendition of “Great”, and I am renaming it GREAT….great huh?
G = Get
R = Real
E = Evaluate
A = All
T = Thoughts
We have a tendency to float through our lives and while things may not be perfect, we live with the mediocrity. Your diet is a mess, your 20 pounds heavier than 3 years ago, exercise seems undoable and you push through because well…you’re great. Greatness is a mindset to be sure, but is it a realistic mindset? There are some super important things in life that can determine the quality of our lives. Family, work, housing and health I think top the list. Are you great except for your health? Do you have good health but a soul-sucking job? Do you have a great job but your family is in shambles? So many variables. Honey-Boo-Boo seems pretty damn great…except for that little obesity problem. Donald Trump appears great…except for his hair problem, so much money and that hair!!!
I always say it takes one to know one and trust me I am “one”. I am not great. There are several areas of my life that could use a swift kick in the ass. Nobody does the I am fine game better than me, and I don’t mean to be polite, I mean if I say it enough to myself I get a free pass to excuse the behaviors that are not serving me. So you know what…I am going to be GREAT!
For starters I am no longer going to use the following words “ I can’t “ and “ I don’t” and my most favorite “ I’m too old”. I can, I will and I’m not ancient like Joan Rivers for heavens sake! So on that note, I went and bought myself a real blender so that I “can” make all these super healthy drinks that my BFF has been trying to get me to do for ohhh….say…maybe 2 years. I can’t I said before, I don’t have a blender.
Second I have been basically lazing about with my fitness program. I can’t train there because I don’t belong/it’s to far/it’s too late. Turns out I can train however I want and I don’t have to belong anywhere…and maybe it’s NOT to late! Maybe I need to get some fresh ideas and stop with my own brain dead routines!
True confessions are not easy, especially when it’s to ourselves. It’s nothing but justification to defend the mindset we create for ourselves to dismiss self-responsibility. I hear it all the time, I can’t eat right because I don’t have time to grocery shop. Except, you have time to go out to dinner 5 nights week? I don’t have time to exercise. It’s expensive…but you can go out drinking/eating 3 times a week? I challenge you to be GREAT…Get real evaluate all thoughts.
I feel pretty good right now, I have taken down some detour signs and roadblocks I put up out of fear and complacency. I am going to move ahead with my training and my life’s work. It won’t be perfect, it may not even be what I planned and quite frankly I don’t care. I trust the process that life will treat me right when I dial in and participate and stop excusing and defending myself.
I hope you have a GREAT day
PT
