Two patients this week injured their knees out of nowhere and now are unable to stick to their newly-cemented workout schedules. At least 5 patients who are teachers told me they were unable to eat lunch even one day this week. One patient went through a break-up and could barely get out of bed all weekend. Other patients are caring for grand babies when they planned to go to the grocery store, battling the tail-end of cold and flu season, or finding things too tight financially to pay for certain groceries. I’m often struck by how quickly these roadblocks emerge when someone decides to get on the road to better health.
I know the first few months of creating new healthy habits are tenuous. It’s a lot of effort to prepare and pack a balanced lunch. When work becomes too busy to eat that carefully prepared and packed lunch, it can feel like a waste. Patients have to determine if this is a roadblock worth fighting through or one that will keep them at a standstill on the road to a healthier life. Factor in lack of sleep and high stress levels, and well, you can understand how this roadblock begins to feel insurmountable.
If we could zoom out the lens on our lives, though, we would see hundreds of roadblocks even bigger than this one. Roadblocks like taking night classes to get a degree, interviewing for job after job, figuring out childcare, finding time to train for a race the list goes on. It seems that much of my job is reminding patients that they’ve done this before. When changes are hard and life is overwhelming, it’s hard to zoom out the lens and remember all the roadblocks you have already broken through. My patients are resilient people, they just need to be reminded of it.
As we enter April known for its showers that bring May flowers let’s be unsurprised by the roadblocks that try to derail us from healthier living. Truthfully, this month probably will bring more challenges. Spring break may tempt some to snack all day, the pollen will prevent some from going on afternoon walks, and teachers will be driven crazy by their students. In these moments, let’s choose to zoom out the lens, remember past successes, and get creative in our roadblock work-arounds. There is always another option, a better choice to be made.
