Personal Development Roadblocks – Taking Things for Granted

“You’re going into surgery right now.  Put your things in this plastic bag.”

And she walked off.

I was still numb from the shock.  

I hardly ever got sick, and had never had surgery.

This was not the way my Christmas vacation was supposed to begin…

Yesterday I was at Disneyland!

No Time To Lose

I called my dad and told him I was going in for surgery, right that instant.  I told him I was fine and would be ok, but He wasn’t buying it.  

He was on the next plane out so he would be there as soon as I was sent home.

They took me upstairs and injected some anesthetic.  

For about 10 seconds, I felt extremely calm…then I passed out.

When I awoke, I was groggy, and confused before I remembered where I was.

Oh, right: I’d been sliced open, my appendix was gone and my clothes were somewhere in a plastic bag.

The Surgery is a Success

They told me the surgery went smoothly, and that it was a good thing I had come in when I did – any longer and it may have ended my life.

Then … the bad news.

  • Only liquids for a week
  • No strenuous physical activities for at least a month

I mentioned to my surgeon I was in the middle of an important workout routine, involving lifting heavy weights.  

He was unsympathetic: “Not anymore.”

Frustration

I used to think the hardest part of weight training was the grueling workouts…but I was wrong.

The hardest part about weight training is wishing you could lift weights but not being able to.

Lifting weights, yoga and running are a big part of my life – but I never realized how much they meant to me until they were gone.  

Once I lost them though, every day I felt a feeling of anxiousness to get back in the gym.

I thought of all the times I had complained about going – and how often I had skipped a workout.

I wished I could have had all those days back.

My First Day Back

When I was finally cleared to workout again, I entered the gym relief, happiness – and newfound motivation to make up for lost time and to get more serious about the things I wanted.

I entered with a promise to myself to be excellent.  

And I was.

Excellence

I tackled my workouts with more motivation than ever before.

I ate perfectly.

I slept perfectly

I never missed a workout

I was incredibly strict – and it was the happiest I have ever been weight training.  

I looked forward to it every day – I was thankful just to be back in the gym.

I made more progress working out in those six months than in the three years prior.  

Stop Taking Things For Granted

My biggest lesson from that was experience was this:

Taking things for granted has stopped me from achieving my goals more than the breaks that never came.  

All those years I could have worked out, I could have had laser focus – but I didn’t.  I procrastinated, 

I wasted time and then only when I lost what I had taken for granted the whole time did I wake up and get serious.

I didn’t need a big break – I just needed to take the chance I already had right in front of me.

Take today’s lesson as a starting point – and stop taking something for granted in your life today.

Appreciate it.

Take advantage of the moments and opportunities in your life right now.

Remember – YOU Are The “Something” You’ve Been Waiting For. You don’t have to wait anymore.

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