It's going to be hard either way - pick your hard

My 4-year old is a super perceptive girl. She broke a rule the other day and as a way of apologizing, she found this mini massage ball we have in the house and just silently came up to me and started giving me a massage (it was hilarious and so cute). AND it was also spot on, because I've been living in soreness for the past month. I started back up these really intense hour-long HIIT workouts. They're ridiculously painful and I'm often sore for at least 3 days afterwards. The workouts are HARD.

But then, when I don't workout, I always sense a dip in my energy, motivation, and don't feel as as strong and focused (especially when I'm running around after the kids and they beat me up the stairs). That's also HARD.

So, the question for you is - which HARD are you going to pick?

Often, we choose to stay with one hard, to avoid another type of hard.

- We keep our true opinions to ourselves or don't initiate the hard conversation, so we can avoid the discomfort of conflict. (However, we're super uncomfortable having stuffed our thoughts, our minds clouded with "what ifs", and maybe even feel resentful at others)

- We say yes to all the events, people, tasks that we're not actually that excited about, so we avoid feeling like we've hurt someone's feelings or let them down. (However, we also then feel the squeeze of time, feel the burnout, and miss out on being able to focus on what's really important)

- We set vague goals or make loose commitments, so we don't face the disappointment of not succeeding, messing up, getting it wrong. (However, we also then live in the land of unmet desires, feel that loss of direction and motivation, and feel our confidence take a hit)

So if we embraced the fact that 'hard' comes with the territory - my offer to you is, choose the side of hard that honors your values, supports your long-term goals, and moves you along the path of your dreams.