I get asked a lot, “What motivates you?”, “How do you stay motivated all the time?”
These are great questions and I hope that in telling you what motivates me, you find something that motivates you!
One of my biggest motivators is my health! In 2003 I woke up feeling like I was having a heart attack. It scared the bejeezus out of me. The only thing I could think to do was to get to the doctor right away.
It was one of the scariest moments of my life. As I was sitting in the Doctor’s office waiting to be seen all I could think about was how young I was to be feeling like I was going to die. When the Doctor came in and said,
“I understand you are experiencing chest pain.”
I just lost it. I was reduced to tears and trembles. I said,
“There is something wrong with my heart. I can feel a sharp stabbing pain in my chest and I just know that there is something wrong.”
The doctor sent me off for an electrocardiogram (EKG). He said,
“I just want to make sure you have not had a heart attack.”
Me at 24 having a heart attack, you have got to be kidding! What have I done?
If you don’t already know an EKG is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of your heart and is often used to determine if you have had a heart attack. It’s simple and painless and they just record activity that is printed out in waves and scribbles on a graph.
I went back to the exam room to meet with the doctor after he reviewed my EKG. He said,
“The results came back fine. There is no indication that you have had a heart attack. We would like to monitor your heart for 24 hours. There is a monitoring device we will put on and when you feel an “episode”, push the record button on the device. We can then look at the recording of the heart during an “episode” to see if there is something more going on.”
I left the hospital with a Holter Monitor strapped to my chest. I wore it for 24 hours. Talk about one of the most uncomfortable devices to wear and you can’t get it wet! During the next 24 hours I had chest pain about 4 times. I pushed the button when I felt and “episode”. Fear for your life is an unexplainable sensation until you feel it for your self.
The next day I went back to the hospital and turned in my monitor and waited to hear back from my doctor. The doctor called me the next day and said,
“We found nothing abnormal during the monitoring process.”
“Are you sure?” I said. There must be something wrong! The doctor reassured me that there was nothing wrong with my heart and thought the issue was stress related. I didn’t really know what to think. I was delighted that nothing serious had happened. I am glad I didn’t have a heart attack, but what the hell was going on?
Despite what the doctor said, I knew my body was trying to tell me something. I was more than 70 pounds overweight, I didn’t exercise, I ate poorly and I SMOKED! I know, I KNOW! (Can you say denial?) I knew my heart was screaming for change and change is exactly what I did!
The local gym was having a promotion for signing up. It was half off initiation. When I signed up I was determined to change my life! I entered into a 2 year contract with my local gym. Not only was it a huge commitment, it was also cheaper! Studies do actually show if you have some skin ($$) invested, you are more likely to be successful! So began my fitness journey!
Your health really should be your #1 priority! You should do something every day that is in line with your priorities! Your goals should be moving you toward the best version of YOU there is! I chose to LIVE. For me that means working on keeping my heart healthy EVERY DAY!
