I know this is most definitely a first-world problem, and far down the list from say, the issues facing the people of Aurora, Colorado, or the citizens of Syria, but. . .my gym is relocating. That very fact has me not quite in a full-fledged panic (yet), but certainly feeling increasingly anxious and aflutter.
Part of the anxiety comes from the uncertainty of the situation. Giant posters around my gym announce the coming move, but the exact move date is still TBD. "Soon" is as specific as the information gets. For a pathological planner like myself, the amorphous nature of "soon" is sheer, unadulterated torture. (Is there such a thing as adulterated torture? I mean, if it's adulterated, is it really still torture?) Heck, I can barely get out of the bed in the morning unless I have a plan for the day! And yet I'm expected to continue going to the gym without being able to make a plan for adjusting to the commute to the new location? Horrors!
Now, I know the gym won't disappear overnight. I won't show up one morning and find a Post-It hastily tacked to the door with the words, "Sorry! We've moved!" scrawled on it in Sharpie marker. It's the idea that scares me. The fact that it's change. I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here by saying that change is scary--even when you know that change is coming and what form it will take.
I chose this gym in large because of its location. It's 5 minutes away--less if the two traffic lights cooperate, more if there's snow on the ground. The new location is 15 minutes away (if the traffic lights and Mother Nature cooperate) and on the other side of a never-ending construction zone. That may not seem like much--it may not even be much--but it's an obstacle. My 10-minute round trip to the gym will become 30-minute round trip. Believe me when I tell you that 30 minutes makes a big difference. It's the difference between 60 minutes out of my workday and 90 minutes. (How's that for stating the obvious?)
The problem is, the more time out of my day the gym requires, the less likely I am to go. I learned this lesson before, in my two other forays into gym membership. In both instances, the driving back and forth wore on me. My gym attendance dwindled until it stopped completely. I'm sure there were other factors at work, too, but the commute to the gym was certainly part of the equation.
Now I'm concerned that history will repeat itself. That this extra obstacle, this extra distance and the time it requires, will interfere in my current pattern of gym attendance. Right now, I go to the gym 3 times as week, nearly every week. My goal is to work my way up to five days a week. I know from the research I've been doing that to achieve and maintain the weight loss results I want, I will need to exercise for an hour a day, six days a week. For me, the gym is the best place for me to exercise.
I am not a natural athlete or "exerciser." Some days, it takes a metaphorical forklift to get me out of my chair, into my car, and over to the gym. I fear that the new gym location will force that forklift to work harder and more frequently until it breaks down completely.
That might not prove to be the case. It's easy for me to envision the worst case scenario. I struggle to envision a scenario of success. What it all comes down to is, the gym relocation will require a change in my routine--and I don't do well with changes, especially to my routine. It takes me forever to recover from them. Which brings me back right where I start: my gym is moving and I'm scared.
Part of the anxiety comes from the uncertainty of the situation. Giant posters around my gym announce the coming move, but the exact move date is still TBD. "Soon" is as specific as the information gets. For a pathological planner like myself, the amorphous nature of "soon" is sheer, unadulterated torture. (Is there such a thing as adulterated torture? I mean, if it's adulterated, is it really still torture?) Heck, I can barely get out of the bed in the morning unless I have a plan for the day! And yet I'm expected to continue going to the gym without being able to make a plan for adjusting to the commute to the new location? Horrors!
Now, I know the gym won't disappear overnight. I won't show up one morning and find a Post-It hastily tacked to the door with the words, "Sorry! We've moved!" scrawled on it in Sharpie marker. It's the idea that scares me. The fact that it's change. I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here by saying that change is scary--even when you know that change is coming and what form it will take.
I chose this gym in large because of its location. It's 5 minutes away--less if the two traffic lights cooperate, more if there's snow on the ground. The new location is 15 minutes away (if the traffic lights and Mother Nature cooperate) and on the other side of a never-ending construction zone. That may not seem like much--it may not even be much--but it's an obstacle. My 10-minute round trip to the gym will become 30-minute round trip. Believe me when I tell you that 30 minutes makes a big difference. It's the difference between 60 minutes out of my workday and 90 minutes. (How's that for stating the obvious?)
The problem is, the more time out of my day the gym requires, the less likely I am to go. I learned this lesson before, in my two other forays into gym membership. In both instances, the driving back and forth wore on me. My gym attendance dwindled until it stopped completely. I'm sure there were other factors at work, too, but the commute to the gym was certainly part of the equation.
Now I'm concerned that history will repeat itself. That this extra obstacle, this extra distance and the time it requires, will interfere in my current pattern of gym attendance. Right now, I go to the gym 3 times as week, nearly every week. My goal is to work my way up to five days a week. I know from the research I've been doing that to achieve and maintain the weight loss results I want, I will need to exercise for an hour a day, six days a week. For me, the gym is the best place for me to exercise.
I am not a natural athlete or "exerciser." Some days, it takes a metaphorical forklift to get me out of my chair, into my car, and over to the gym. I fear that the new gym location will force that forklift to work harder and more frequently until it breaks down completely.
That might not prove to be the case. It's easy for me to envision the worst case scenario. I struggle to envision a scenario of success. What it all comes down to is, the gym relocation will require a change in my routine--and I don't do well with changes, especially to my routine. It takes me forever to recover from them. Which brings me back right where I start: my gym is moving and I'm scared.