No Filter

I have a friend who says exactly what she is thinking. She doesn’t seem to notice that she’s being quite blunt. Sometimes, it can be a bit awkward when she says things out loud, that the rest of us would only think in our heads. Often she will make sweeping statements just to get a response but other times her honesty can be refreshing. I guess that’s why “No Filter” is my best friend. 

I was chatting with a few runners, as we recovered from Orewa run21. After chatting about the race and the Christian Runners website, we talked about these blogs. “No Filter” asked if I had a proper job. Well, what she actually said was “ You can’t be blogging every day! ……….. don’t you have a proper job that pays the bills?”.   She already knew the answer, this was said with the intention of livening up the conversation, I think. So I explained that I worked in a Laboratory, which was news to some but clearly not overly exciting news to anyone. So, I threw in that I also had a side hustle as a Personal Trainer.

“No Filter” was back again. “So why does everyone fail when they try to do an exercise program?” she challenged, adding “they never reach their goals whether they use the gym or a PT”.

So many possible answers went through my head. I struggled to select the right club to land my answer on the green.

        -Do they all fail – look around you….

        -depends how realistic the goals were….

        -if they don’t try then they are guaranteed to fail….

        -because it’s hard, really hard….

        -because lots of people want a quick easy fix and it’s not like that….   

But the answer that came out of my mouth was none of these. To my surprise, I said.

“Programs………………that’s the problem”. Seeing some looks of puzzlement, I quickly elaborated. Suddenly this didn’t seem like a tap in.

“Too often we talk about programs……………….6 weeks this …………..10 weeks that………..from couch to 5K etc. But then what? We need to grasp the idea, from the very beginning, that this is a life change. A change in lifestyle, in our habits, in our behaviour, and even our beliefs. Sadly, too many people think that 1 hour in the gym, twice a week, and everything will be sorted. So after a month or two, they can go back to their old ways. Back to their normal life.”

I sensed they were listening. Encouraged, I continued with more confidence. “This is not a phase; …this is a life change. If you don’t make a full commitment you will, most likely, fall by the wayside, sooner or later.”

I looked down at the cross on my Christian Runners shirt and repeated.

“This is not a phase; …this is a life change.” When I looked up “No Filter” was smiling at me warmly and she said,

“Blog that!”