Tuesday is the worst day of the week for me and my colleagues at Now in Salt Lake magazine. It's "layout day." While us three staff writers like to joke that it's the day we whip out our bikinis and lay under the sun, the truth of the matter is that our real "layout day" is not nearly as relaxing.
Layout day for us means laying out our publication and getting it ready for print. The day is filled with stress, a lot of swearing and short tempers but it ends with us being really excited about the print edition that will come out two days later.
Today, I decided to make this layout day a better one by getting up and going to the park to jog/walk with my dog. I got up bright and early and kissed Daveed goodbye before he was even ready to leave for work. This never happens unless he is off track from school. He always leaves before I do and when he does, Dylan (the dog) and I are curled up in bed with Lestat purring between us.
By the time that I go to work, I felt great and was ready to face the day. I think that the early-morning exercise actually helped. The downside was that I was absolutely starving all day and I realized that I needed to stock up again on my healthy snack foods.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted and so ready to come home but I decided that instead, I would do more exercise by going to boxing class. I work out at MMA 21 in Salt Lake City, and I love it. I had been working out there two-three times a week but now a days I am lucky to get there once a week. Tonight was my first time back in two weeks.
I got my ass kicked and was yelled at for not punching the bag hard enough and I kept thinking, "don't they know how tired I am?" That's when I realized that even if they did know, they wouldn't care. These guys are hardcore, some of them former and even current UFC fighters and to them, my light jog/walk in the morning followed by nine hours of editorial design work at a desk and then 40 minutes of boxing was nothing. These guys live for the next fight, the perfecting of the next level in combination routines and to them, I am more than likely a comedy sketch on the bags than someone who has potential to kick someone's ass one day.
So, there you have it. My realization that no matter what you are going through, or how tired you are or feeling sorry for yourself, there is someone out there who really just doesn't give a shit because they are right there with you and are taking themselves to the next level rather than focusing on their hard days.
In reality, I have no idea what my classmates or my trainers are really thinking, but when I look around and see them working their asses off and pushing themselves to the next level of toughness, I feel a little more motivated. And that's why sometimes, it's good to just tell that whiny voice in your head to shut the hell up. And once you do that, move on to the next obstacle.
(Photo for today's blog is an iStock image)
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