Getting Back Up

I'm back in sunny (but freezing) Northern California and feeling soooo much better! Besides a little lingering congestion, I'm almost fully recovered. Thank you for all the well wishes and healing vibes! They did the trick!I'm starting to feel healthy again, though still a little shaky, and guess what.I'm afraid of getting back in the gym again! Gahhhhh!Wellllllllll, I'm afraid, downright excited and relieved that I have the strength again... but honestly, I'm going to have to start a few levels lower than where I left off... which makes trainer Amy a little embarrassed.We exercise-lovers pride ourselves on how we can keep up with the pack, maybe even lead it. We can lift, sprint and stretch without it taking us down for a day. We look at new workouts with giddy anticipation, eager to beat the challenge presented to us.But when we fall off for a few weeks, be it from sickness or by choice, the day we go back to the gym is no longer something to look forward to, it's a day to dread.I can't go in there and do beginner exercises! I'm past that! If I can't do my HIIT workouts, I don't want to go at all!THIS is the argument in our heads that begins the decent into ill health, keeping us from getting back out there at all. Your fear of going through the work that you feel you've already graduated from is barring you from realizing that strength again. It's akin to the arguments we conjure up when we get floored by depression.I can't get back into positive thinking! My mind is nowhere near as positive as it was before this bout of depression. If I have to start all over again, I'd rather just give up.Some people who experience a good run with happiness, but fall back into depression, think that the period of happiness was just a fluke. They think it was the forces teasing them with a flash of the joyful life they've always wanted, only to take it away and throw them back into the depths of darkness.The thing about happiness is that it is not a constant background entity. It doesn't just come to us and stay forever without effort. Well, at least not to those of us who have chemical imbalances. ;)Like physical strength, a happy life is something that needs consistent mindfulness and work. I say "work," but I mean it in a way that is devoid of the connotations of stress and hardship that are usually attached to it.Your depression, like your physical health, will come and go. That's just how it works for some of us. Instead of lamenting about having to fight it all the time, rejoice in the fact that you periodically receive the reminder to never take happiness for granted.So whether you're struggling with getting back in the gym or getting back into mindfulness and gratitude, start to argue back to that defeatist voice with the truth: you deserve to be strong and happy.Your life is not meant to be lived in the backseat. [tweet]When you give up the reigns, you give up your purpose here. You are meant to drive. You are meant to move forward, not to stay on the ground where you fell. If you don't get back up, you are doing yourself a disservice because you are brimming with strength and potential that can shake the world if you just harness it!You are a kinder, more connected person when you are healthy and balanced. You, your family and your friends deserve to have that person around for a long time.You owe it to yourself–after all the hard work you've done before–to get back up and at least try. Having been through the work before, it will likely come back to you faster. You may even get stronger this time around.Last night, I took a calm, stretchy yoga class that normally would have left me annoyed because I didn't break a sweat. I left feeling spent, but grateful.Grateful to myself for taking that first step.Grateful for the yoga class that was lighter than advertised.Grateful for the strength that I know will soon come back. It always does.Be patient with yourself when you fall off because you can never fall too hard. Just get back up when you can and never give up on your strength.Stay strong,Amy