Patience and Motivation for Hard Times
I want to follow up my most recent blog on staying positive during this pandemic with some thoughts on
patience and motivation. All of us are feeling uncertain about when businesses will reopen, whether it
will be safe to stop self-quarantining and what life will look like in the weeks and months ahead. Many
of us are feeling frustrated and/or scared after 2 months of a pandemic that so many of us were
unprepared for. And a number of my clients and friends report that they are having difficulty
maintaining motivation for working out after their initial forays into training at home.
I believe that the issues around a growing sense of impatience and loss of motivation are strongly
linked. My family and friends are probably scratching their heads, wondering what I know about
patience. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 30+ years as a teacher/trainer/coach, it’s that I often
end up teaching what I need to learn myself.
So here goes:
1. We all want to believe that we are in control of things. This is particularly true for those of us
who work out. One of the key takeaways from the pandemic for me is that I don’t control very
much other than my attitude/response when hard things happen. This was a large part of why I
wrote about finding hidden positives during this time of unprecedented social isolation. My
take on motivation and patience is based on what I have learned from lifting weights and
training for half a century. Some times I’ve been very dialed in and other times I’ve had to put
one foot in front of the other to maintain a workout. It’s not a linear progression and
remembering that helps me to stay patient with myself.
2. I’ve always been impatient and struggled with people being late or not doing what they say they
would do. It was suggested to me a number of years ago to try to come up with two reasons
that have nothing to do with me for why that might be the case. This pandemic has made that
easier as we see the loss of life, income and physical connection associated with it. This should
remind us that we never really know what someone else is going through. Once we extend that
type of grace to someone else, we can extend it to ourselves and practice a little patience with
the struggles we are all experiencing now.
3. Taking care of a 19- month old is a daily lesson in patience. I want him to experience climbing up
and down stairs (with my help), playing with a ball, running down a hill and coming back up.
More often than not, he loves to run down the hills at the overnight camp where I take him
almost daily, but usually wants me to carry him or push him in the stroller back up those steep
paths. By putting his needs first, I am choosing to forget about my expectations about how
things should be done. As an unintended consequence, I get to do the equivalent of sled
marches and loaded carries up those hills. More importantly, I get to see the world through
someone else’s far-less jaded eyes as he discovers a new world of learning and possibilities.
4. Doing something is better than doing nothing when it comes to working out. Moving is better
than sitting, consciously breathing is better than worrying or beating yourself up about what
you’re not able to do and finding things to be grateful for is better than feeling resentful.
Remember that small hinges swing big doors when it comes to your health and wellness. St.
Francis of Assisi said it this way, “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what’s possible; and
suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
5. Instead of counting reps, sets, weight lifted, miles walked/run/biked or even days missed
training, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. I have found that even the smallest amount of gratitude on
my part goes a long way to caring for this body I have been given. The Bible tells us that the
body is a temple, and although at times I feel like mine is a Temple of Doom, I know our bodies
are sacred because they house our souls. Take some time to appreciate that and working out
can take on a whole new meaning. I ask myself this simple question, “If you don’t take care of
your body, where are you going to live.”