Be Still

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” — Arnold Bennett, Novelist I love today ™ quote. Sometimes we expect everything to be easy and the minute it gets hard we give up. We don't want to sacrifice, sweat, push the limits, get past the discomfort or go even beyond our comfort zone. Fortitude and discipline are two of the things that separate success from failure. Some times you are closer to success than you realize, but you give up. I know patterns can be hard to break. They become so ingrained and well, that's why they are called habits, but you can create new ones. Yesterday morning (my chance to sleep in) I found myself lying in bed. I started out giving thanks for all of the things I was thankful for and within a minute my mind shifted to . .. you should e-mail the boot camp ladies, don't ™ forget to send that contract to the TV show, e-mail the invoice to the client, contact personal trainers for new tele-seminar, call co-author to schedule Friday meeting for new Woman's Adventure Boot, don't forget to call Melina's coach, did you finish those food logs?, write check for property taxes, confirm flights, write grocery list for nanny, etc. Next thing you know it's 5:30 am on a Sunday morning and I ™m furiously working at my desk. I was looking for a sign to BE STILL and to break my constant noise mode. I got to church and the message was about Being Still and listening. When was the last time you drove in silence? Didn't turn the TV on for a day, stopped checking e-mail for an afternoon, didn't pick up the phone the moment you had a moment without something to do? Our minds are constantly going and I am the BIGGEST perpetrator. I am NEVER STILL, but I am working on that. It's always a work in progress. If you get a chance, read the book Eat, Pray, Love. The writer is so funny as she fights to be still during the Pray chapter of the book. I think we can all relate to how hard it is to be still. It's something I am going to work on and I invite you to do the same. Start out with 5 minutes and then build from there until you get to 30 minutes. It will have such far reaching effects on your being at peace with yourself and being clear on what you want and giving yourself a chance to listen to the messages you may be too busy to even see or hear. Kelli Calabrese is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist, 22 Year Fitness industry leader, author, editor, international speaker, media spokesperson and mother of two beautiful young children.   She is also the owner of the Argyle Adventure Bootcamp.