Wake Up Call

I'm the fat ass. E's the penguin.

It started with a simple request - "Hey E, when you get up to study will you call me and make sure I get up to work out?" It is now a morning routine (until she passes her test like rock star, and then I'm going to have to recruit another early bird... any takers?).

I asked this of her because I find a human has the ability to hold me far more accountable than an alarm clock which can easily be thrown out of its socket, across the room. And while in that moment, I want to throw my phone, I wouldn't dare because I have an unhealthy obsession with my phone and I respect my friend on the other end of the line who is simply doing what I asked. So, I pick up each morning, and I drag myself out of bed because she screams at me until I do - my personal Jillian Michaels.

After going through the motions of cursing the pizza I ate the night before, taking the elevator down to the first floor (super counterproductive, I realize) - and positioning myself like a hamster on a wheel, I get moving, and I never regret it. It is always the right thing to do, it never fails to make me feel better, to clear my head, to reposition my attitude. It is like dragging myself through the mud only to find a beautiful garden on the other side. That garden is the demise of my ass fat.

For me, working out has always been a love / hate relationship. Despite my efforts to wish it otherwise, calories do count, and while peanut butter has its own unique high, it certainly isn't burning fat. And since I choose food over juice and cayan pepper to keep from becoming a hangry human (hungry + angry = hangry), exercise will always be a part of my life and I'm going to have to wake up to do it.

This dynamic is true of a lot of things in life. Often the things that are best for us are the hardest to start, the most challenging to endure and yet the most rewarding to see through. But I can say from experience, it is much easier to face those things head-on when you have someone behind you cheering you on.

Sometimes we all just need a wake up call. Someone to be with us, to hold us accountable and support us. It's these little moments that make our hands feel held as we drag ourselves through the day or in this case, simply out of bed. It is often the things that force us to wake up, literally or figuratively, that allow us to grow and discover our true purpose. And it is the people who help us to be wide awake, as much as we might protest, that are the ones worth holding on to.

I am grateful for my sweet morning wake up calls - for the calories burned, the endorphins stirred, but mostly for the friend on the other end of the line reminding me I'm not alone.