What’s your IMPERFECT commitment?

For a VERY long time now I’ve been THINKING about exercising. By long time I mean like 17 or so years (crap, it’s been THAT long!). But as an ex-competitive athlete, without realizing it I was always looking for something that would erase the dreaded cellulite from my thighs and get me back into kick ass shape.

Somehow the fact that I am now 40 and not 22 or 20 or 18 did not register in my brain, nor did the fact that I have no desire to commit 20+/- hours a week to grueling and boring physical activity. I’m a bit slow at times.

Periodically during these years I’d pick a challenging goal and force myself to do it for the sake of getting in shape–a century bike ride, the 4+ mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim, a half marathon–but most of the time I THOUGHT about how I should be doing something and wasn’t.

Trust me, the words in my head telling me that I should be exercising were not supportive. Actually, they sucked. So this year I decided to stop waiting until I found the perfect exercise solution for me. And I’m not waiting until I get the motivation to get up at 5:00am and go to Master’s swim practice or anything else. Instead I am going to do 20 minutes a day of whatever.

Yep, that’s right. My new 2011 superduper exercise routine is 20 minutes of whatever. Anything at all that involves at least 20 minutes of moving my body qualifies. Even slug yoga. It may not erase the cellulite from my thighs or get me into pro-athlete shape, but it’s a whole heckuva lot better than sitting around THINKING about what I’m not doing.

So far I’ve been for a new year’s day hike with my parents, been to yoga, left the office at lunch and walked in the cold two days this week and more. And so far it feels good. Very good. Enlivening even. Occasionally the voice says something like “a walk? Lame! That’s not going to turn you into a supermodel…” and I reply, “You’re probably right, but it’s a lot better than nothing.”

So what are you imperfectly committing to this year? Think about something you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t. Anything goes. And then make a commitment to yourself. A completely doable, laughably reasonable, absolutely imperfect commitment.