During the past couple of weeks, I’ve been faced with a constant reminder of my own limitations. A recent back injury slowed my normally active lifestyle to a halt. Among the biggest frustrations: My inability to exercise left me with no way to counterbalance the frustrations of long work days, the stress of wedding planning, and my insatiable love of almond butter.
As I struggled with the incapacitating pain of my injury, I found that my physical abilities weren't all that was affected. I lost my patience faster, became frustrated easier, and generally morphed into something that wasn’t representative of who I wanted to be. I was left with a simple question: When you can’t do what you want, must everything else also suffer?
We live in a world where excuses are prominent and real. But if you're not careful, temporary excuses can become a permanent way of life. I’ve experienced it myself. I was once an overweight kid and rationalized that I had bad genes and could never be fit. Clearly, my self-perception became the world I created for myself, rather than the far-reaching potential that lives within us all.
When I look at LIVESTRONG.COM, I think of the success stories. The people who have every reason to make excuses, feel trapped and limited by their own bodies. Whether it’s a terrible disease like cancer or the suffocating reality of obesity, we are all faced with our humanity and limitations in different ways. But what ultimately separates the stories you read from those untold is your mindset. Do you allow what you want most to be prevented by what stands in your way?
At some point, I decided to stop feeling bad for my recent setback. I taught a fitness class to help others be active. I dedicated the time I would be spending in the gym to my fiancé. And inevitably, I did what I should have done in the first place: Visited my doctor.
My step towards improvement might appear insignificant compared to those who have to fight real, serious battles every day. Still, even the smallest steps require the greatest courage. And that’s what improving your health is really about: Realizing that every goal—whether weight loss, fighting disease, or building muscle—is equally important, difficult to achieve and worth fighting for. The only question is: What are you waiting for to make your goal become a reality? Your potential will never disappear, but if you wait too long, your health will.
- Adam Bornstein
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