Accountability and Respect

I generally agree with Casey here. Frankly, running every day for two years straight is impressive. But it’s a daily battle for him. And really, the daily internal conversation for him is to do it or not, which he simplifies to just “do the thing”.

I’ve been having my own internal battle with working out. I swear I’m going to be consistent. I keep telling myself I’m going to start on Tuesday. Then Tuesday rolls around, and I go through the myriad of excuses for myself on why I’m not going to work out or why I’ll just do it later, anything except just “do the thing”. I know if I only get started, I’ll learn to be accountable for myself with this. I’ve journaled for nearly three weeks straight by reducing the friction to do so. I can also work out for three weeks straight, which starts at one day, that becomes two, and keeps building from there.

Accountability goes hand in hand with respect for me. Namely, respect for yourself, respect for your space, and respect for others. First, respect for self, which includes things like watching what you eat, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, working out, going to the doctor when you need to, and in my case, finally signing up for therapy. It really did become a matter of if I have enough love and respect for myself to help myself. I chose to say yes.

Respect for your space starts with cleanliness for me, but also includes the simple things you have to do around your house. Pick up the bowl and put it where it belongs, things like that. Being mindful enough to say, maybe I don’t need that extra thing in my house. This was easier for me when I lived in a studio apartment, but I’ve been guilty of buying things just because I had space that could be filled in larger places. Things finally came to a head for me when I ended up spending the weekend deep cleaning my place. I was happy enough with it that I want to keep it this way now.

Then respect for others and your outside world. This starts with respect for self and permeates outward. I feel like if you’re taking care of your own temple, the kindness you have for yourself should be easier to give to others. It’s things like respecting their space and boundaries. In a world where it seems like people are more self centered, at least here in the States, that might be harder to want to give. But, maybe we should be the examples more then.

Just my two cents on all of this. We’ll see if I actually start running now.