Ever stop doing
something that you’ve always done, or at least done for years, and then after a
period of time not doing it, thought that there was no way you could get back
to it because you’d be starting right back at square one, and that feels like
just too much effort, so why bother?
I’m sure there are
countless different activities, or habits, that you can think of where this has
been the case. I know I have a few.
I recently heard
Caylee Grey, from the Get Messy podcast, mention this, but how she framed it,
changed my perspective.
When we return to a
task after a long absence, Caylee pointed out that we aren’t starting from
scratch, but we are “starting from experience.”
And, that is so
true. No matter how much time has passed
between when you stopped and when you start up again, you aren’t starting the
second time as a complete beginner. Even
if you need a refresher and have to relearn some steps, you’ll pick them up
considerably faster than you did the first time because you already know them.
Also, because you
already have experience, you know what your pitfalls are (ie what caused you to
stop in the first place) and how to make the process work for you so you can
keep going again.
When I first
started doing yoga, I was told that even if you stop doing yoga for years, when
you get back to it, your body will remember, and after some initial stiffness,
it will quickly get back to the level you were at before you stopped. Just like riding a bicycle - you never really
forget how to ride even if you are a bit rusty the first time out again.
While we tend to
think of summer as a time to ditch routines and just play and have fun (and it
certainly is that), summer is also a really good time to revisit some of the
tasks, skills, and practices we used to do, because we don’t have our usual
routines as an excuse to stop us, and the free time to spend revisiting the
activities.
And now that you know it will be easier to get back into the groove than you “thought” it would be, you have nothing to lose.
Beth
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