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JUST A DAY OFF

 


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The message of this piece may or may not be for everybody, however I pray that somehow you relate with these few words and make sense out of it.

One of the things I have been consistent with this year is “morning runs”; I exercise three times a week, alternating between the week days. The entire experience became more fun when one of my friends became my neighbour few months ago, and we began running together. Well, what we do every day we go running is adding upon the distance we covered previously and no matter how small the addition is, it gives us a sense of improvement. However, lately, we have been overwhelmed with life and personal struggles that we often skip our morning exercise, and prior to now that I am writing this piece, it has been almost two weeks that we have not gone running.

What we discovered and even talked about while running this morning (5:27am, Saturday October 24th, 2020)  was that in as much as our body systems have adopted and adjusted to exercising at least three times a week, all they needed was a day off for them to start being rusty. Yes, we did run, we  covered the distance we did last time but this time around with much effort and sweating, all because we slacked for a day or two. I personally do at least 30 sit-ups and push-ups afterwards, but it was thug of war for me to hit that target, yes, my body has become complacent and rustiness was setting in.

One of the most applicable and practical instances where this popular axiom “Talk is cheap” is largely portrayed and buttressed is with these two words – persistence and consistency. We are so much familiar with these two words that their true essence and meaning often elude us in the unfolding of life’s events. At best, we are good at persistence but we hardly get the pass mark when it comes to consistency. We strive and fight and give in all our efforts to get something; sometimes because of how bad we need that thing we go against all odds and refuse to give up until we get that thing - now that is persistence at work. However once we get that thing we have always wanted, we become relaxed and take a deep sigh saying “mission accomplished” – now that is not right.

Persistence and consistency are two sides of the same coin, persistence get you something but consistency keep and guard you that thing. Investing your effort to get something done without the corresponding consistency to keep and sustain it is an effort in futility because it will not last. Persistence is what gets you through the pain and huddles of starting, it helps you survive the rigours of little beginnings and all the inconveniences that come with it. But it is consistency that keeps you focus in the cruise mood without which sliding back to square one is easy. Consistency is what keeps your head held high amidst fame and the seeming derailing applause of men, it is the pathway to finishing strong and well. While persistence is needful for a successful kick off of everything in life, consistency is instrumental to finishing strong.

In his book “The 5 AM Club", Robin Sharma posited that it takes at least 90 days to destroy an old habit and replace it with a new one. However, a day off from your effort in consolidating that new habit may likely take you weeks backward. Just like what I experienced with my neighbour when we took few days off from our exercise of three times a week, we needed to put in more efforts to erode the rustiness that was beginning to set in within just few day of complacency just to cover the distance we use to cover with less effort. A day off makes what should have been easier hard because the momentum initial flow and effort has been hampered.

How then does this piece relate to you? Do you know that we are often guilty of getting things through persistence that we are not ready to keep with consistency? (Persistence is the getter while consistency is the keeper). We strive and persist to attend certain heights in life only to get overwhelmed and swallowed up by fame and pride because we could not focus through the lenses of consistency, hence we come crashing down again to the starting point. Can you scan through your life and see those things you have acquired through persistence only to let them go easily because you had no consistency? I have been thinking hard about this in the last few hours I started writing this piece because it benefits no one to start something and not sustain and finish same.

Isn’t it amazing how just one day can make big difference in one’s life? How that just a day’s break can break the flow of something you have built over time? Every bad habit starts as a result of taking a day off from doing and consolidating the right one. A day off is a harmless sleep, a careless slip,  and mindless complacency that open the day  for vices to crept in silently yet saliently stunting your growth as a person Watch out for Day Offs in your life especially when you are persisting to get or achieve something. In the journey of persistence, remember to carry consistency as a bag pack.

Thank you for reading

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