Today is Groundhog's Day

Warning warning. Do not get your hopes up. I'm not talking about the real groundhog's day. No, I'm sorry you did not sleep through an entire season. I apologize but, no, Wiarton Willie did not leave his burrow and no, spring is not only six weeks away. No, I am terribly sorry, but  it is not even officially winter yet. What I'm referring to is a Bill Murray kinda Groundhog's Day. It's the day when we wake up and our lives feel like clockwork. The day when our same futile routine starts anew and we spend its entirety searching for ways to make it different from yesterday.

Everyday is Groundhog's Day for me. Every morning I roll out of bed with the same thought in mind--why can't I just sleep in? And where is my breakfast? Okay...maybe two [conflicting] thoughts, every morning they are the same and every morning they are followed by the same challenge I face every time I open the fridge...hmmm what am I craving this morning? It is only after the initial thrill of indulgence in either savory cheeses or sweet cereals that the painful reminder hits me--time to gear up for another session at the gym. Yes, here is when the reality of Groundhog's Day sets in the most--when I realize all I have in my near future is another one of the identical workouts I have been having for the past ten years, even despite my progress, even despite how different my workouts are from this week compared to last.

My dismal attitude is only temporary, I'm glad to say. It only takes a short (well, it feels much longer) 1.5-2 hours to turn it all around. Every morning I drag my feet onto the treadmill. Every mid-morning I bounce back to my car and sing my way home with the morning radio countdowns. Now I am free--now, today can be whatever I want it to be.

What do you do that makes your day that much better? For me, there is no hesitation in my answer, no doubt in my mind, nothing turns my day around like a good workout. I can wake up in any mood and in any state and nothing else can quite make things right like it does. There is something about its healing power that is quite different from all the consolation or sympathy that the world has to offer--it is different in that you are healing your self, by your own will, through your own strength. When I am battling my self--my weaknesses, my insecurities--I am running past my flaws, breaking through my skin with each step, with each mile into a newer body, a stronger me. When I feel bullied I picture myself running alongside my aggressor, as he huffs and puffs on the dust I leave in my wake. When my anger threatens my sanity, I erase it from my thoughts with a motivating song and drain it from my body through my dripping sweat. There is nothing better than a good run to get you through any rut, to push you past any obstacle, to make your today a day to celebrate instead of another groundhog day to dread.

What do you do that gives you that feeling? That out-of-body, out-of-mind experience. That one thing that pushes you to your limit, if not even a little bit further. When you're drowning, what brings you to the surface? When you're losing the game, what gives you the strength to tie the score? When you've been beat, when you've been taken advantage of, when you've been wronged, how do you get revenge? What fuels your fire? Pick one thing that has the power to take you to another world, if even for an hour, if even for a few minutes. Choose anything that makes you feel invinsible, unbreakable. You hold the keys to unlock your mind from its own, sometimes self-defeating, confinements and unleash it into a world of strength, of guiltless, deserving self servitude, of true independence in every sense of the word. Find something that can make your day not just any other Groundhog's Day.