11 Jun Where there’s a will, there’s a way

My unattractive but effective excuse-busting cooling system!

It’s getting hot in the California desert – I mean really hot. Today the forecasted high temp is 44C or 111F and the coolest it will get in the middle of the night is 26C or 79F. It’s not even the first day of summer yet. It’s sweltering – sounds like the perfect excuse to stop running.

My treadmill is set up on the patio because I have no room for it inside the house – in fact, now the patio resembles a little gym with a few weights, an ab ball and a Teeter inversion table added to the mix…but like I said, it’s damn hot out there! And here’s another great excuse I found – my dog can’t be left alone so unless there is someone here to look after him, I can’t take off to work out in an air-conditioned gym.

Excuses are the scourge of success and they are so easy to find! It’s human nature to find the easy way out.

But the truth is, where there is a will, there is always a way – just so long as the will is strong enough. We have to have a burning desire for something in order to make things happen and to kick our excuses down the drain where they belong.

Fortunately, I have a burning desire to stay fit and healthy and to feel the marvelous effects of endorphins pumping through my blood stream, so I got creative: I jerry-rigged a cooling system. I moved the Teeter inversion table into the appropriate position in front of the treadmill and dragged an old baseless umbrella from the garage. I tied the umbrella tightly to the Teeter. Now it shaded the treadmill. Then I got a fan from the guestroom and set it up alongside the running machine. I did a test run. It was perfect.

So my cooling system worked well but it looked as ugly as hell. I decided to research some slightly more attractive alternatives. I went on Amazon and purchased a “clamp-on” umbrella that I could attach to the treadmill as well as an industrial strength fan that sits on the floor behind the machine. Now the system works even better and while it’ll win no design awards, the visual no longer makes me gag.

I can run at 6 every morning throughout the summer without excuses and without the threat of dehydration or heatstroke.

What are you putting off through the effective use of excuses? Is it time to get real and honest? Kick excuses out of your life forever and get creative!

Where there’s a strong enough will, there’s always a way.

Here’s to your success!

JS