What's your banana???

"In India there are a lot of monkeys. When the locals want to catch one, they anchor a bottle to the ground. The neck of the bottle is just large enough for a monkey's hand to fit through. Then, they put a small banana in the bottle, sit back and wait.

The Monkey Trap.
Before long a monkey comes by, sees the banana, reaches his hand into the bottle, and grabs it. But then, the monkey discovers that he can't get his hand out of the bottle while holding onto the banana. There is loud chattering and squealing as the person who set the trap walks up to the monkey and places a burlap sack over him. In the darkness the monkey releases the banana and is captured.

The monkey could, of course, let go of the banana and run before getting caught. Some do. But most of the monkeys hang on to the banana until the sack goes over their head. Why? Because the banana has value to the monkey and the monkey is unwilling to let go of that value. So unwilling that he gives up his life for it. People do the same thing."

Everyone has their little quirks or "idiocyncricies" that make us who we are. We have habits that harden into our character and determine how we react in situations and perceive the world around us. We identify ourselves with these little nuances. That's just me, that's what I like, it's who I am. Deal with it. We get defensive when these things are questioned or threatened. For example, one of mine would be, "I'm just not a runner. I'm not built that way so it's probably much easier for you than me." Now, I'll say this, but the fact is, I don't like running because I'm not good at it. Because I'm not good at it, I'm resistant to practice it. Why? Because it's a total blow to the ego to do something you're mediocre at. Why lower my self-esteem and image in my head of me being awesome at everything I do? Pffff. Not worth it.
There's so many of these little things we each hold onto. "I'm a chocoholic, I can't help it," "I'm not good at Math, my brain doesn't work that way," "I'm an alcoholic, it's a disease." You'll notice there is always a justification after each one of these characteristics. But, if something is truth, does it really have to be justified?

Now, back to my running. So I acknowledged that I'm not very good at running, but I started letting go of the excuse at the end. I'm not good at running because....um, my ass is big and girls with booties like me don't make good runners. (This was blown away by a black female track runner with an incredible booty that blew past the competition). I have too much muscle to be good at running (I realized shortly after thinking it just how ridiculous that thought was). So, I went through these excuses one by one and each time I realized I was just hiding from the discomfort of getting out of my comfort zone with running. I'm not good at it, because I don't want to be.

Rather than continue making excuses, I chose to look within, acknowledge, accept, and then make a conscious decision to change it.

Once we release the excuses and accept accountability, we empower ourselves to change, evolve and grow. What's the excuse, habit, or stubborn idea you hold on to that prevents you from shining your full potential? This may take some meditation and self study and what we call in yoga, Satya, or acknowledging truth. It's easier said than done, but hey, I'm not saying it will be easy. I am saying, it will be worth it.

So I have adopted running as my main cardio. For the past two weeks, I have run 6 days a week for a minimum of 45 minutes each time. Some days are easier than others and I'm starting to realize running isn't that bad. I would almost say I look forward to my runs....almost.

Everyone has a banana. What's your banana and more importantly, are you willing to let go of it??

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Your Trainer,

Erin Is Awesome