It’s all about ME!

It’s Friday again tomorrow – the last day of six pack training for week five; Friday is also my ‘day off’.
When I say day off, I mean it’s supposed to be a day away from the computer.  However, for the last…hmmm, I can’t even remember how many weeks now, that’s not been the case.
It took me a while to get my head around it and have various conversations with myself about it…
What if someone emails me with something important?
“Tell everyone you’ll no longer be available on Fridays and that anything incoming will be dealt with on Saturday.”
What if someone needs/wants to talk to me and discovers I’m not at the end of the computer?!
(I even made myself laugh with this one – you can tell I was clutching at straws!) “You’re not serious?!  They’ll just move along and either get on with whatever it was they were doing or find someone else to talk to.”
Erm…ok, but what am I going to do all day?!
“Well that’s the fun bit!  Anything you like as long as it’s not in front of the computer.”
The review schedule, for the writing side of my life, has been causing a bit of mayhem for the last few weeks. It sounds quite innocent doesn’t it ‘the review schedule’ but it’s a MONSTER and I’m glad I don’t have to organise all of it!
It involves a lot of work and for it function properly requires PRs, writers and reviewers to all be on the ball. As soon as one link in that chain breaks chaos generally follows.
Throw in a new software system for tracking who’s doing what, when and for whom, that’s caused a bit of confusion and the upshot has been stepping in at the last minute to fill in gaps and most of my reviews falling on…FRIDAYS!
I don’t have a review to write for tomorrow and I’m rather excited about that! 😀
I do have lots of other work I could do instead – I’m NOT very excited about that! 🙁
I’ve come to really enjoy my days away from the computers and so, as of tomorrow, I’m going to reclaim them!
I’ve already turned all the alarms off and I’m not going to get up until I CHOOSE to – if that happens to be 5.30am then so be it.
I’m going to train in the morning, then take Morpheus out and when I get back I’m going to have a nice hot shower.
After that I’m going to go OUT!  I have no idea where yet, but it won’t be to the supermarket and it won’t be for any domestic reasons. It’ll be somewhere and something purely indulgent and just for me – I have no idea what that’ll be yet, but I’m already looking forward to it!
I may, or may not, have to be ‘back’ late afternoon to meet up with Edward and his dad for the weekly swimming lesson, followed by playing Lego Star Wars on the PS3, as they’re away at the coast with family this week.
They should have been back today, but Bear’s not been very well…let’s just say that straying too far away from a bathroom is a v e r y bad idea and a four hour car journey an even worse one, so they’re staying put tonight and will reassess the situation tomorrow.
One of the things I can guarantee about my day off tomorrow is that training will be the first thing I do (and I’m going to make an appointment with the dentist as it’s been on my list of things to do ALL week!)
Training every day is right at the top of my priorities list; it’s the one hour in every day that I can truly have to myself.  That time belongs to ME and I train for ME because it makes ME feel good and it makes ME look good.
18 months ago I felt terribly guilty about that and I remember apologising to the family for it, “I’m sorry, I need to go and train.  I’ll try and be as quick as I can.”
I’m not sure when I became less important than anyone else in the family, in my own head, but that’s where I was and it took a lot of soul searching and effort to get rid of that very misguided belief.
I’ve been asked, more than once (or twice), whether I’m not being a bit selfish with all this training.
‘All this training’? What, one hour a day for five or six days a week to work on getting/staying fit and healthy? I don’t think so!
When did it become so ‘wrong’ to want to do something that makes you feel better about yourself?
When did it become so ‘wrong’ to want to look your best and feel strong and confident?
When did it become so ‘wrong’ to take a little bit of time every day and do something that meant you COULD feel better about yourself, look your best and feel, strong and confident?
Put aside just one hour every day, just for you, and do something physical with it!
Go for a walk, take an exercise class, pick up some dumbbells, go swimming, go for a bike ride or get lost in some goal setting whilst pedalling on the exercise bike whatever takes your fancy- but DO something every day and make it all ABOUT YOU!