I took a walk with my dear friend yesterday, and when I showed up to her house, we shared about our mornings and confessed we were both feeling a little Grinchy.

“Well, I’m glad we’re in it together,” she laughed, as we got into her van and headed toward our walking loop.

When our feet hit the path, we got right to it — arms swinging in sync, zipping our coats to our chins in the shady stretches and tilting our cheeks to the sky in the sunny clearings.

We talked about life as we stepped it out. Her upcoming birthday. Next weekend’s plans. Summer camping adventures. Aging parents. Teenage drivers. Mental health.

We descended the path to the lake on our third and final loop and stepped out onto the dock for a nice long inhale of sunshine. 

“Thank you so much,” I sighed —  to her and to God and to the blue-white ice shining up our whole world.

“Thank YOU,” she replied. “I feel so much better.”

“ME too.”

On the drive back to her house, I thought about how easy it would have been to bail on that walk. We could have canceled and sat home on our couches. Neither of us would have been mad at the other. But we showed up with our real selves and our real moods and the real knowing that we were probably going to feel a whole lot better after moving our bodies. 

***

My alarm is set for 4:45 each weekday morning, and I leave for the gym by 5:30. Sometimes I didn’t sleep well the night before. Sometimes it’s below zero outside. Sometimes my hip is sore from an old injury or I wake with a kink in my neck from rolling over to the wrong side. Sometimes I have no motivation. 

Honestly, though, I’m to a point in life where I don’t need motivation. Getting up is what I do. Pouring a hot cup of coffee for my drive into town is what I do. Starting the day with Pilates or yoga or weights, or stepping it out on the elliptical is what I do.

It’s not a question of whether or not I’m going this morning. I’m going. 

It’s a question of what am I doing to improve myself today? 

What am I doing to become better and stronger and healthier and happier today?

Author and retired US Navy Officer, Jocko Willink, famously says, “If you want to get better, stop looking for a shortcut and go find your alarm clock.”

And he’s right. You just have to do it. Do it tired. Do it Grinchy. Do it slowly. Do it alone or with a friend. Just do it often enough that showing up is your habit. Movement is your habit.

Meanwhile, learn to trust. Trust the process. Trust the small steps that lead to big progress. Trust it won’t always be hard to swing your legs out of bed — and before long you won’t even need that alarm clock. Trust me when I say I have never regretted getting up and moving this body, and you won’t regret it either. Trust that movement is medicine, and you are always only one workout away from a better mood.

It’s February — one of the toughest months of the year. Many of us who experience the seasonal blues are FEELIN’ IT, and a lot of winter still lies ahead. Even if every voice in your head is telling you to stay in bed or on the couch, I am telling you there is no better time to do this.

Your body needs this. 

Your mind needs this. 

Your spirit needs this. 

Lace up your shoes or roll out your mat and promise yourself you can quit after ten minutes if you hate it — but I’m betting you have at least twenty in you.

If I can do it, you can do it. Start today.

“Getting better is a campaign.”

– Jocko Willink