So, in my other life, I am a college professor. When the pandemic hit hard last March, our college switched to online and we still have not yet returned to campus.
In the last year of working from home, I have developed what can only be affectionately called the “pandemic physique.”
The pandemic physique primarily features bellies that have grown, thighs with lives of their own, and maybe even arms that flap in the wind. Maybe you are also a new owner of a pandemic physique?
Anyway, I decided that I should probably do something about it. Pam had mentioned the Peloton and I wasn’t sure.
I had heard about Peloton (at this rate, who hasn’t?). But I didn’t really know what it would entail. And that price tag! Gag me now! I could pay someone to push me on my bike for that price!
I began looking into it anyway. In that process, I ran across options other than Peloton. Many were still as pricey but were far more intriguing and I believed to be a better fit for Pam and I.
In the end, I chose another option.
I won’t lie. The Peloton pull was super strong. The Peloton is totally sleek looking. They have a huge network, crazy good studio workouts and it is THE hottest thing right now.
But is what everybody else is doing always the best fit for you?
In the end, I shook off the pull to do what everyone else was doing and made the choice that would work best for what we needed.
It was hard. It seems silly, but I felt almost a sense of loss by choosing not to do what others were doing. It was like being an outsider.
When it comes down to it, though, sometimes you have to lose to gain.
Sometimes the things you lose are actual things – like secure employment or even comfortable relationships. Other times, you lose visions – visions of having your career unfold a certain way or visions of how you ideally would like your relationship to be.
The key, though, is to have those “losses” actually become “wins.” Addition by subtraction, so to speak.
And it can be hard to let some things go. We’re taught to want certain things and to want them a certain way.
What others are doing isn’t necessarily what WE should be doing
But that way isn’t always the best way for us or our circumstances. What others are doing isn’t necessarily what WE should be doing. And you’ll never know unless you’re willing to step out on a limb alone sometimes.