The positives of negatives

There is a lot to be said for having a positive attitude.  However, there is also a lot to be said for having a negative one.

Complaining is allowed.  There are some exercises (burpees, I am looking at you!) that just aren’t fun.  We do them, but we don’t have to like it.  I made up an entire song, once, about how much I hate lunges.  It got me through the workout.

It would be great if we could all float happily through our workouts, stepping up to every challenge with equanimity and grace.  It’s still great if we get done with a new record for number of curse words in a fifty-minute period.  It’s the workout that counts.  If smiling works too many muscles and distracts from the ones that are supposed to be working, we don’t have to do it!

It can be a relief to know that we don’t have to pretend to like something.  We can hate the process and still go through with it because we want the results.