Short and not sweet

Today I am sore. It is a combination I believe, of working out too vigorously at the gym last night-(oh but it was fun at the time, no really it was) followed by leaping recklessly out of bed this morning in a desperate attempt to walk out the unbelievably painful leg cramp I was awoken with, followed shortly thereafter by slipping on the ice on the way out to the recycling bin.  Happily, I managed to save myself from biffing it in a big bad way on the pavement, but I got a sweet inner thigh pull from doing the splits in the process.
Add to that a full-term baby burrowing deeply into my pelvis and it feels as though someone has taken a sledge hammer to my nether regions. Consequently, I have adopted quite the pregnant/old woman waddle today. I have always been proud of the fact that I do not waddle when I am pregnant, but today I am waddling.  Of course today was the day that I felt compelled to organize all my kitchen cabinets.  The high ones.  And to clean the revolting ceiling fans. So I spent several hours (very carefully) clambering up and down  from a kitchen stool. ****(Before you email me lectures and recriminations- let me assure you that the stool could not be sturdier. It is actually a long legged chair, with a back for leaning on, and four very, extremely sturdy legs. Not to mention, I too am sturdy, and as I told my husband, just because I am pregnant does not mean I am drunk. I am very steady on my feet-as my various experiences of slipping yet not falling on ice this winter will illustrate.)
So anyway, after the truly excruciating up and downs All. Day.Long, my husband came home. There were a few more things to place in high cabinets and so I asked him to put them away.  Which he willingly did as I watched.  This is what he did: he picked things up, stretched out his arm and placed them on the shelf.
There was no dragging the stool, climbing the stool while wincing and grunting, placing the item, carefully climbing back down while wincing and grunting. Just stretch and place. Just like that.
Can I just say? I was so mad.  “IT IS SO EASY FOR YOU!” I practically screamed at him. “WHY DON’T YOU DO THINGS ALL THE TIME!????” He took exception to this given the fact that he does in fact, do things all the time. 
But he and anybody of stature can never truly understand the plight of the pgymy. YOU ARE SO FORTUNATE! PLEASE! DO THINGS ALL THE TIME!!!
But then, so am I. I am so fortunate. I recognize this. My height or lack thereof may be a hindrance, it may slow me down at times, but it does not stop me. For one thing, I am not that short that I cannot perform normal tasks. For the rest I can climb. I am generally not in pain, I am steady on my feet, I have enough energy most days to do what needs to be done.
And yet, I don’t. I don’t do things all the time.
I remember whining once to an online community that I just did not feel like going running and asking for reasons to inspire me to go.  One person responded, “because you can”. This one won out over all the weight loss/endorphins/health suggestions. Because I can.  I thought of all the people who might want to go running on that particular evening and could not and I decided to do it for them.  I remember that run as one of the most fulfilling running experiences I have had. I don’t think it was a particularly easy or fast run, but it was meaningful. I did it because I could. And I was grateful.
So, what are you going to do today, because you can? 
*If you think you should maybe be working out more-because you CAN- but not sure how to start, check out my cyber training group. (Sidebar). I am a certified personal trainer and I specialize in helping people achieve their goals wherever they happen to be in their fitness journey. It is extremely inexpensive and extremely effective, you can do it in your living room and it’s designed to keep you and your muscles from getting bored.

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