Dance on the damn treadmill

Let me tell you why it's my life's motto

Very early in life, I had a rude but useful awakening:
You have to do a few things you don’t like in order to fully enjoy the things you do.

I loved getting good marks and basking in the praise that followed. But was I a fan of the consistent studying it required? Absolutely not.

I adored playing volleyball. But the first 40 minutes of jogging and mind-numbing warmups? Torture.

As I grew older, more of these annoying-yet-necessary things showed up:

• Want a home-cooked meal? Gotta cook and do the dishes.

• Want to feel good in your body? Gotta work out regularly.

• Want to wake up fresh and productive? Gotta sleep on time.

The only way I’ve managed to get through this lifelong mismatch between wants and means is a little hack I stumbled upon in my school years.

See, studying bored me to tears. So I wrapped it in things I loved.

I'd wake up not to a screechy alarm, but to an upbeat song that had me shaking my bum in bed. I bribed myself with food too: finish a chapter, get a Chikoo milkshake; finish another, get a pack of chips. (No judgment. This list could go on forever, so I’ll stop here.)

Cut to adulthood. The same principle still applies.
Just... updated.

Because fitness? Still not a natural habit for me. Dragging myself to the gym? Always a battle. But once I’m there, I get into the groove. You know what made it even better?
Dancing.

So now, I dance on the damn treadmill.
Literally.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

I put on my playlist, crank up the incline to 12, and move like I’m at a party (a sweaty one, but still). It’s ridiculously fun, and it transforms a dreaded cardio session into something I actually look forward to.

So if there’s something in your life that feels like a treadmill — hard, boring, and necessary —
Find your version of dancing on it.

Life’s too short to suffer through the things we don’t like.

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Little Joys

“Joy is always around if only we pause to acknowledge it.”

With life's burdens and big ambitions, it's easy to overlook our everyday joys. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the small joys from the last week. Here are mine -

• Baked a beautiful lasagna

• Got a great response to one of the pieces I wrote for my client

• Went for a walk with my parents

• Started planning an abroad trip for the end of the year. Fingers crossed.

Now your turn!