Consistency…Oh What a Drag

I continue to be shocked about how easy it is to “deteriorate” in SO many ways when I am inconsistent, especially now that I am older.  Oh let me count the ways…

• Eating one double scoop ice cream cone and gain 5 pounds

• Go to the opera in the big city, and return home at 1:00 a.m. End up dragging for the next three days.

• Miss three days doing pushups & planking and it is an absolute grunt to make my numbers next time.

• Learning to play that new musical instrument is good for my brain. But our three-week trip to XYZ makes it hard to take the instrument with us. When we return home I suffer a setback for what feels like a couple of weeks.

• If I don’t stretch every morning I feel as stiff as a board throughout the day.

• When I go out to do yard work I get more tired doing less. Then when I do less I am even more tired than before.

• Not staying on my regular walking routine, thinking I will trade-off by pulling weeds…ends up without me being able to pull as many weeds the next day.

• If I don’t put on sunblock, I am lobster-like within 30 minutes…whereas I used to sit on the beach for hours and think nothing of it.

• Having a small cup of coffee after dinner at a restaurant, yet again makes for a restless night in bed.

• Going to bed later last night, because of a TV special easily messes with my ability to easily get up for work.

• Without purposefully reaching out socially, it becomes increasingly easier to isolate socially.

• It I miss time with my meditation practice, I am amazed at how annoying slow drivers can be.

• Not taking the time to think about big ideas, results in being little minded.

• Not practicing empathy results in more black and white thinking.

• Giving-in to sugar cravings means I will somehow have more chocolate in my mouth for the next couple of days.

• Taking that one piece of fresh, warm, and crunchy Baggett with creamy butter so easily leads to five other pieces, throughout with my pasta meal.

You get the point. Yes, consistency is a drag. But in the long run I find it easier to be consistent rather than starting up again, and again, and again after that dive into deep inconsistent behavior.  Perhaps I am just lazy, who knows?

I do know it is far easier to reach my personal goals when I am most consistent with them. Perhaps the old childhood ditty was (partially) correct: Cheaters never prosper…in the long run.

What are some of your consistency challenges?

Tim Berry