There are many really effective ways to talk ourselves out of doing the right thing for ourselves. One of the easiest and most harmful though, is telling ourselves that it is already too late. We all know the way that this little bit of dialog works. We say that we are too far gone, we have let the past dictate our present for far too long and that nothing that we can do will make any difference anyways. When you have those thoughts, remember that there is no such thing as too late; we can always do something, even something small, to help ourselves take the right path.
No matter how many steps we have taken own the wrong road, all we nee to do is turn around. Think of this next time you have the thought to go out for a run or a bike ride, or even a walk, and then get down on yourself for how much you haven't already done. Turn your thinking around. Personally, I find that the best way to turn my thinking around is to replace my negative thoughts with thoughts of gratitude.
One of my favorite fitness/triathlon bloggers is Meredith Atwood of swim bike mom. She writes that there are three things inside the core of every person, whether he or she believes them or not: 1) I am relentless, 2) I am worthy, and 3) I am blessed. I fully agree with her on that and, to me, point 3 is the point I want to focus on tonight. We are all blessed with our own unique gifts, both internal and external. When I am feeling down and unmotivated, I sometimes play a little game with myself: I think of one internal thing and one external thing to be grateful for. The internal may be that I am healthy enough, no matter how out of shape I may feel, to go outside and do something healthy for myself. The external may be nice weather, or access to a nice walking trail, or even that I have good friends or family members who tell me that they believe in me.
When I was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it took me a long, long time of using other peoples' belief in me to motivate me, before I ever even started to believe in myself. I just kept repeating that Turkish proverb like a mantra, and remembering that no matter how far down the wrong road I went, I could always take that first step in the opposite direction. And you can too.