Start Small

I hate to exercise.  I am just not the athletic type.  I have tried various sports I thought would be fun and I just never stuck with them.  I know exercise is important for my health but I just don’t like it.

So last fall when I signed up with our local guild to take a bus to the Houston Quilt Show, I knew I would be walking a lot and would be very sore at the end of the day.  That was motivation enough to start walking.

If you are going to do a marathon, you start out training.  You don’t run the 26 miles right off the bat; you start small.  So that is what I did.  I walked a short distance and I mean it was really short (like walking past a couple of houses in my neighborhood) and I built up from there. When walking past a couple of houses got easy, I added a couple more. 

I also walked at the college where I teach.  Since I started my ‘training’ in the summer and I live in Texas, I started to walk inside where it was air conditioned.  I walked down one hallway in the building of my classes and then back to the faculty lounge. When the one hallway got easy, I would add the hallway along the front of the building and work up until I was walking the whole building twice.  By the time the Quilt Show came, I was used to walking and feeling stronger (I also noticed my back didn’t hurt as much).  By the time I got home from the bis trip, I was tired but not as sore as I would have been if I hadn’t started ‘training’.

Any big project you do whether it is running a marathon or making a quilt, works better if you break it up into smaller bits.  It doesn’t seem so overwhelming if you do it a little at a time and if you think about it, the fun lasts longer.  If you are doing something like a quilt, you are not likely to go buy the fabric, cut the pieces out, sew them together and quilt it all in one day, especially if you are a beginner.  If you do that. you will be exhausted, sore and probably make a lot of mistakes.

So whatever project you have planned, whether it is something creative like a quilt or something dreaded like exercise, start small.  Break it up into small pieces and do a little at a time.  I am pretty sure you will be happy with the results.

©2019 Cheryl Fillion