On Motivation (Geek Style)

It's no secret that I'm no good at being healthy. I never exercise, and I'm a junk food junkie. I've tried countless times to start working out and eating better, but they never last long.

The fact is that I have never had any REAL motivation to be healthy. All the times I've started a new workout or tried being conscious what I eat, it's been because a friend was starting to eat better, or I thought I OUGHT to start exercising. I was always done as a result of outside influences. And I just don't have the willpower to sustain that kind of activity.

Suddenly though, I find myself WANTING to be active, and it's a very strange feeling! This evening, I got up from the couch with the express purpose of fetching a cookie from the kitchen, but then, my brain hit autopilot, and the next thing I knew, I was hooking Fezzik up to his leash and heading out the door! Not just that, but I find myself waking along in the morning (I need to start walking before I start running) and I feel compelled to RUN, I've never EVER wanted to run in my life. Ever. Never.

Seriously. I've spent my whole life convinced that my body was not meant for motion. The fact that my brain was telling it to run is completely backwards!


In brief, after only three days of properly motivated ultra-light exercise (full-body stretches and 20-30min power walk in the mornings), I'm already seeing a radical change in myself. My thinking is different, my body image is improved, I'm more productive at work, and I'm eating better without even thinking about it.

I thought about it, and I've figured out what changed.

For the first time in my adult life, I have a fictional hero. Well, heroine.

Over my years of geekdom, I've run into a lot of heroes and heroines, many that I admired, and many that I related to. Aside from Shae (which was a last-minute, two weeks from Comiccon kind of project), I always cosplay characters that mean something to me for one reason or another. Not to mention my various fandoms that I frequently draw on for inspiration.

This time, though, I've found a heroine that I both admire AND relate to. And it's made my brain say "Hey, I want to be more like her!!! Now....how can I do that?"

It seems it was the secret ingredient I needed to fuel my own motivation. Just like my Doctor Who lunchbox motivates me to pack a lunch every day rather than buying my lunch, my own supreme geekiness has provided me with the motivation I need to get up my arse and get moving every day.

Now, my problem is keeping my enthusiasm at bay so that I don't injure myself in my quest. My fingers are crossed that I can keep this up. I'm not worried though - while my willpower may have its limits, my geekery knows no bounds.

It's pretty frakking cool. ;)