FINDING MY LOST MOJO

 

A devout walker, a firm yoga practitioner with total commitment to fitness since my childhood, I have been struggling to find my rhythm the last few months, since the onset of 2021 in fact.

 

I come from a family of heath and fitness freaks. My early memories are of my father turning off the fan during my summer vacations at 6:00 am as that ensured I will wake up. This was followed by, “Now that you are up, why don’t you go jogging/swimming/cycling for a while?” Over a period of time, this pretty much became routine which is continued even today (mostly 😊).

 There have been periods when I have skipped exercising: illness, vacations, sheer laziness… I’m dedicated, yes, but a fanatic, no. Like any normal being, I enjoy playing hookey without much guilt pangs. But like I said, somehow things are not falling in place now and the happy exercise routine is being as elusive as the abominable Yeti of the Himalayas. 

I even tried taking inspiration from motivational texts like this one:

“Life is never a smooth walk. There are rough patches and there are obstacles on the way. The hurdles in our life too have a purpose. Don't lose hope when you see an obstacle. Don't let it break you down. Find ways to overcome it. When you come on the other side, you will realize it has not taken anything away from you but unleashed your stronger self.”

But the result was not what I hoped for… 

For someone who's used to jumping out of bed at 5:30, 

A 5:45am alarm was an surmountable problem, big and weighty.

It only marked the start of a struggle, an obstacle filled morning;

The irritatingly gentle alarm was actually a piercing warning.

 

First hurdle was to find the alarm button before it wakes me up fully!

The sub conscious says, fight sleep n wake up but the head remains woolly!

 

Life isn’t a smooth walk… Only the feet wake up, rest of me is still fast asleep.

Plenty obstacles in my path - placed there by some mean, devilish creep!

 

I trip over my slippers, stub my toe on the bed n walk into the wall;

Where are my yoga pants… And the d**n yoga mat is not to be found at all!

 

Yawning wide I roll out the sulky mat – like me, rudely woken from it’s shavasan pose;

Tried to loosen the stiffened protesting limbs as I give myself a pep-me-up dose!

 

It’s just not working; I realise it’s not my fault that this effort is a total fiasco

My intentions are sincere & pure, the fault lies in my missing exercise mojo!!

 

I have spent 3 mornings looking for it high and low,

Under the pillow, inside the blanket but it was a no show;

 

Even checked if it’s snuggled next to the hubby or in my cup of tea,

But no matter how much I enticed it, my mojo refused to come to me.

 

Enough devils fought these 3 days, the struggle has made me stronger I can see.

Stood firm against all temptations, I didn’t let a missing mojo break me.

 

I overcame it all; barely 6:00 and this hunt has me all exercised n fatigued!

The text was right... It didn’t take away anything, in fact has me intrigued.

 

How many mornings will I ruin in these wasted efforts I wonder?

I have to be much stronger and overcome this exercise monster!!

 

With firm resolution, I shut the alarm down every dawn

At my age, let me do what I want and not become my mojo’s pawn!!