The Right Thing

For the last week or so I have been doing a 1%er post every second day, which would make today a scheduled 1%er blog day. However, today has been one of those days where I have been reminded again about the importance of balance in the bigger picture of life and so I thought I might do a blog about that tonight.

As I mentioned yesterday, this week has been a tough few days for our household. Lost keys, jury duty, tired and stressed parents, the list goes on. Today the Jury Duty saga continued with confirmation that my wife has indeed been selected for a jury, and for a case lasting 8 days no less. No messing around there.

Heading into today we weren't really sure how the day was going to pan out. I had some coaching in the morning and I had hoped to do a bit of exercise this afternoon. However, as the day continued it became more and more obvious that training this afternoon probably shouldn't be the priority of my day.

The day in court for my wife seemed to go okay, however, it was a stressful experience all the same. Getting home from a long day it was obvious that the last thing she needed was for me to head out the door again for a bit of exercise (also it was belting with rain). I made a decision instead to stay at home and lend a hand.

And really this is what I meant about trying to get life balance correct. I will be the first to say that I have been guilty of not getting the balance between work, sport and family right in the past. It is pretty obvious that in the past I have erred too much on the sport side of things. I think it is also true to say that what balance is 'right' probably changes with time. When I was in the midst of training and racing it seemed easier to justify the need to train. That justification wasn't all one sided, my wife often pushed the training side of things too. I can't remember the number of times where I got out the door for a session because she was the one reminding me that I needed too.

However, now I am not racing and training and so that balance has shifted. Now the 'justification' for exercise isn't as strong and so on nights like tonight, the right thing to do is stay about, be supportive and lend a hand.

Really the point of this blog isn't to try and preach that the right thing to do is to ignore training and always stay home, just like it is not trying to say that we should all ignore family in order to train. What I am trying to say is that sometimes things are more important that exercise. What things are more important that exercise probably depends a lot on where we are in life and what your priorities are. When you are in the middle of training intensely for an Ironman then sport sits pretty high up the priority list. However, when you are really just pottering around for fitness, perhaps training should come down the list a little.

I am really just pottering around for fitness right now and so I know that the right thing to do tonight was to stay at home and help. Having done that I am going to go to bed with a light heart knowing that while I didn't do much exercise today, I did the right thing for me, and that's all that really matters.