Cliches? Not a bad thing if you ask me.

I’ve noticed an ever increasing trend on facebook etc of profound status updates – I’m probably one of the most guilty. I’ve taken it a step further, I have a tattoo that states “Carpe Diem” (Sieze the Day) and a memorial tattoo for a friend who passed away. I look at them more often than I care to admit but instead of thinking “damn why did I get these!”, I look at them and they change my mood instantly for the better, now this kind of tattoo these days is very common, almost cliche but they work for me as I hold their meaning in high regard. The problem with cliches by definition is that a cliche is an idea or expression which has been over used to the point of losing it’s original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype. Now I find this a sorry state of affairs, I take my “Carpe Diem” pretty serious. I have down days all the time and catch myself slipping, when I find myself not siezing each day, I look at my tattoo and up my game, I quit whining, man up, and carry on – not just with regards to training but in all aspects of life. Sulking, whinging and dragging your feet never solved any problem, if you don’t like a situation you find yourself in, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! Coming back to the title of this post, cliches. A recent event that happened very close to home got me thinking about everything I’m touching on here. Some of you may have read about it in the papers over the last few weeks. A few days into this new year (2011) there was a tragic car accident where I live in Reddish, I was infact a minute or so behind in traffic and caught the aftermath of the crash. There were a number of cars involved in the crash, in one was a young lady who was close friends with my sister, extremely close friends with an ex-girlfriend and over 10years ago I baby sat her a few times. I’m digressing, now the importance of this young lady is, that she was tragically killed in this accident on Monday 3rd January (2011), this was her 18th Birthday. Tragedy will touch all our lives at some point, it’s a real shame that for some people it takes this kind of event to trigger an imporovement in attitude and behaviour. There are no words to talk about this event that can fully describe the hurt and pain of the families and the life cut down before it even began. This has struck a real chord in the community and triggers off the thought of so many cliches. How fragile life is! We never know just how much time we have left! I pray to God you never experience tragedy in your life, but as we look around the world, on the news and in the papers it’s happening all around us. I really hope I’m not trivialising the aforementioned accident when I say, we need to look at our lives on a daily basis and question ourselves, constantly, “Am I happy?” “Am I living the life I want to?” “Can I improve this situation for myself?” “Am I pleased or proud of my achievements today?” “How much of today have I wasted moaning and complaining about how tired I am, how hard I have it, how I can’t wait for the weekend!?” “How much of what I churned out today was substandard or half-assed?” As a general rule we put things off, we lie to ourselves about our current effort, promising to try harder next time, do a better job tomorrow. We need to remind ourselves of the cliche “Life is short!” some unfortunately shorter than others, and some won’t get that extra day, that next weekend. One thing I always remember my Dad saying when I was younger, (probably when I was trying to put something off), was that “tomorrow never comes”. I apologise for any morbid undertones here but there are lives being cut short through illness and accidents, an yet we can see life being wasted on a daily basis all around us, live in the now and be grateful that for you, it’s here. We are a society of plodders, happy to come up short on a regular basis with our priorities all over the place. So WAKE UP! stop waiting for tomorrow! and the next time you mutter a cliche in whatever circumstances, think beyond the words to the actual meaning! then make sure by your actions that you’re not one of the many contributing to the real cliche of “saying one thing but doing another!” If fitness, weightloss or improved confidence are areas  that will help you improve your quality of life and better yourself, don’t hesitate to contact me here at the Sweat shed and get involved in either our Personal Training or Boot Camps in Stockport.

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