For the most part, I prefer to be upbeat when I write blog posts. No, I’m not Pollyanna, but I also think there is enough negativity in this world without reading more of it in the blogs I choose to read “for fun.” I love sarcasm as much as the next person (and sometimes even more which I definitely have to keep in check!) but I personally don’t love to read blogs that constantly revolve around bitching or stressing or whining. Guess that means I’ll never end up as a fav on GOMI, but I’m cool with it.
Having clarified that, I have been awfully hard on myself this week and I finally decided today that I was just going to ease off and simmer down with the self abuse. What am I talking about?
Here’s the deal: my life right now is out-of-control hectic. I know there are a lot of lurkers that hate it when bloggers claim to be insanely busy, but I honestly can barely stay afloat. Y’all know that I recently moved, but I didn’t really divulge that my bouncing around included stops at my old place, my new place, my parents’ house and a storage unit. I haven’t been able to locate my belongings for weeks now, and I’m essentially living in workout clothes because that’s the only box I can locate!
Additionally, we are smack in the middle of busy season for work and this year has been far more hectic than usual. We made the executive decision to hire fewer employees this year to maintain a tight-knit and cohesive group. I really think our current staff is awesome and I am thrilled with the results of that decision, but it has made our season of chaos a bit more overwhelming. I have been arriving at work between 6:45-7am and the first six hours are typically bananas. As I mentioned in this post, I do a lot of different things for our company, but I’m currently split between designing and air traffic controlling….for lack of a better phrase! Our suppliers have a noon deadline for the following day’s orders, so I have to get all of our installs designed and ordered before lunch. My mom and I have been tag teaming with this, but I also have to help the crew with the projects that they are working on every day. This typically involves lots of questions and phone calls, and some days are more ridiculous than others. Will was shocked when I told him that I had received 74 calls on my work cell before noon today, and no, that’s not a typo. (For my real life friends, this is why you aren’t getting phone calls from me!) I don’t like to complain about busy season because I still think that my fam and I are incredibly fortunate to have the small business that we do—the perks are off the hook (freedom of schedule, three months off in the winter, etc)! However, it does mean that the month of May is catastrophic of sorts, and all we can really do is put our heads down and push through it.
Tals is a pro at putting her head down and pushing through!
Moreover, I somehow managed to sign on for quite a bit of freelance work that all appears to be due within the next few weeks. Could I have made better life choices on this? Of course I could have, but these projects excite me and I’m stoked to be working on them. As I mentioned a few weeks back, I’ve teamed up with Active Junky for freelance pieces in the past, but our upcoming project is far larger than anything we’ve done together. They have a Women’s Backpacking Gear Guide coming out in early summer, and I’ll be one of the main writers/contributors for the guide. What does that mean? I’m smack in the middle of calling in products, testing gear in the backcountry, and writing reviews on each individual item. I’m reviewing well over 10 products, so it is a fair bit of work, but I’m definitely not about to start crying a river. I mean, I get to try out sweet new gear and test it out for review….if that’s not a first world problem, then I’m not sure what is!
Having explained my life-in-a-nutshell, let me now tell you why I’ve been so hard on myself: my workouts have completely leaped to the back burner. In fact, I’m pretty sure they’ve nose dived straight off the stovetop and are smashed into the floor below! It’s Thursday, and I’m currently sitting on a whopping zero for the week. Yup, I haven’t done anything remotely sweat-inducing since this past weekend’s backpacking excursion (recap to come next week!) In fact, I only went to CrossFit once LAST week, and my most recent run was on Sunday, May 19 when Will tried to kill me by speed. I never thought I’d be one to say this, but there honestly isn’t any time in my schedule right now. I’ve worn workout clothes to the shop for the past three days in hopes that I’d be able to sneak away to Big Horn for an hour, but I always end up glued to my phone or computer, hustling to get stuff done.
I wore my workout clothes and my Reebok Nanos to the dentist in hopes of making it to CrossFit afterwards!
It’s the nature of the beast, but it took me until today to finally ease off with the self criticism and accept that this chaos is temporary. I’ve been mentally hammering on myself to do something, afraid that my current fitness level is ebbing away, but I’ve finally realized that a two or three week break isn’t the end of the world. I won’t fall apart, my muscles won’t atrophy, and while my sanity may suffer, I’ll trade that in for an extra hour of sleep. I’ve had a fever and a sore throat off and on for the past ten days, and I know that my body just needs a break. Work and writing are not optional, but stressing over every free minute to find a spot for a quick run definitely is not mandatory. It’s that whole priority thing. I tend to put everything in the number one spot, and I think I’m finally deciding to rearrange that. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get back on track next week, but we’ll see. If I don’t, I’m sure not going to stress over it!
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When’s the last time you threw your hands up and cried uncle?