Behold the stanky laundry basket that I pathetically clutched with many sorrows. I purposefully left this basket in the middle of the living floor this morning before leaving for work. The entire brood of child-spawns was home all day due to ice storms…and the husband, too. Surely someone would see my need for support and assistance? Wouldn’t someone would at least help me with my laundry burden by carrying it to the basement?
But guess what was STILL in the middle of the damn floor when I got home from work.
Yep…the laundry.
Except now it was knocked over and spilled out. WTH? So I decided to channel my fury over this senseless situation by learning from this debacle.
Your fitness journey can be a lot like a basket of dirty laundry in the middle of the floor. Sometimes the people around you are not going to care about what you’re doing. All these positive steps you’re taking to make changes (to get the “laundry” done) and improve your life may go without a pat on the back. They’re not going to help you out or lift you up with motivational words or small gestures along the way. They may, in fact, rudely kick your basket of healthy goals and good intentions.
Sometimes the people closest to you will NOT help you with your laundry.
So what do you do about it?
It’s nice to get support and encouragement throughout your fitness journey, but in the absence of this, you gotta keep on pushing anyway. Get up and do it ANYWAY! Don’t wait for a pat on the back. Don’t be kept waiting for your girlfriend to call you with empty promises to meet along the walking trail. Don’t blame your co-worker for bringing in 15 boxes of doughnuts.
With or without support, you have to dig deep and stay the course anyway. When it really comes down to it, your laundry is your own responsibility, so stay on top of it – even when no one cares that you’ve got 35 loads to knock out.
Emergefit says
February 1, 2011 at 10:36 pmJust when I was expecting you to go to Josieland (a wonderful irreverent place) with this one, you turn and offer a great analogy. Love this!!! My laundry though, is so pungent it does itself just to feel good about itself again.
Josie says
February 1, 2011 at 11:17 pmyye. I like to bob & weave sometimes just to throw you for a loop. Josieland is an irrelevant place? I totally agree.
JourneyBeyondSurvival says
February 3, 2011 at 3:01 pm@Josie,
i think you dropped in an extra l to the descriptor of your land…pretty sure that doesn’t belong…
Josie says
February 3, 2011 at 3:33 pmnope. the l is supposed to be there. ;p
JourneyBeyondSurvival says
February 3, 2011 at 4:15 pm*rolls eyes*
psh.
Josie says
February 3, 2011 at 4:19 pmthat burns calories. Keep doing that.
Thea @ I'm a Drama Mama says
February 1, 2011 at 10:40 pmI heard healthy living compared with brushing your teeth once. You want to get to that point where it’s just second nature. You don’t think about it, you just do it. It’s part of your day.
I’m loving this analogy, too. Noone’s going to do it for you. You just have to do it.
This concludes the lamest comment ever. You’re welcome.
Coco says
February 1, 2011 at 11:19 pmWow! So much inspiration from some stinky gym shorts! But, if my son’s clothes were in that basket he would have to pick them up, because I won’t touch his sports gear if its been left to ripen overnight.
Ashley @ 365 things says
February 1, 2011 at 11:30 pmHa! Yep, you would THINK they would help. I do the same with the vacuum cleaner. I leave it out, plugged in and everything right in the middle of the living room floor. Guess who ends up vacuuming when they get home from work?? :l
skippymom says
February 2, 2011 at 12:28 amThey are oblivious – unless you paste a note, with sparklers and chocolate attached they never notice the laundry basket in the middle of the room. Bribes – it takes bribes. I know.
We have so many stairs doing laundry keeps the family thin [we have A LOT of stairs] – it is really a great work out – and your analogy with the walking/doughnuts is spot on.
Don’t wait – do it yourself.
Now…so I say it right [since I screwed up the shakeology pic’ giggle] You look FABULOUS laying on the floor, aphyxiated by skanky laundry. How’s that – did I get it right this time? heehee 😉
Lance says
February 2, 2011 at 7:10 amHey Josie,
I *love* it!! (well…not the dirty laundry…I’m not quite ready to volunteer as your laundry boy…)
Hmmm….time for me to make sure that *laundry* around here is getting done!
Jody - Fit at 53 says
February 2, 2011 at 9:03 amGreat analogy! There are many people that want to sabotage us along the way – friends, family, co-workers.. ya have to make it about you & DO NOT let them deter you! It is all about consistency & sticking with it no matter what! Life has lots of obstacles so best to learn to just keep rolling over them & stick to your healthy ways!
Tonyne @ Unlikely Success Story says
February 2, 2011 at 9:36 am“Sometimes the people closest to you will NOT help you with your laundry.” That is the truth in so many ways. I loved this post and I think I needed to read it today. 🙂
Katey B says
February 2, 2011 at 9:45 amSoooooooooooo needed this! Thank you and all the best to everybody here. You all rock!
Kerri O says
February 2, 2011 at 11:24 am…and sometimes we forget to ASK for support. We still may not get it, but I find when I ask my family for what I need they do their best to give it to me.
dragonmamma/naomi says
February 2, 2011 at 2:41 pmThere’s one big problem with this analogy: It’s not just YOUR laundry, it’s also THEIR laundry! I’d say it’s time to drag a box into the living room, stand on it, and loudly proclaim that it’s time to come up with a rotating schedule of laundry chores. (And warnings about turning everything pink.)
Josie says
February 2, 2011 at 8:13 pmyep. it is their laundry. but only the young child-spawns and the husband’s. Oldest kid washed the same load of clothes 3 times last week because she was too lazy and kept forgetting it was in there. And then “helped” me by rewashing a clean load that was waiting to be folded.
RickGetsFit says
February 2, 2011 at 4:35 pmI hate laundry day. Especially if I have to do other folks clothes. Good analogy!
Laila @OnlyLaila says
February 2, 2011 at 6:19 pmDarn you and your timely posts! This is so true. I will admit that I am sitting on my couch waiting for this fitness party to kick off. It’s all about me.myself.I on this one. :-/
merri says
February 2, 2011 at 7:05 pmgood post! very true! this even worked in a non-analogy way when, as a kid, i noticed my clothes were never clean and there were GIANT piles of laundry in the laundry room because my mother was too busy doing everything else (work, raising us, etc) that i just started doing the laundry for the whole family myself. then i always had clean clothes, & i was better at it than she was, so win-win. if you want something done, do it yourself 🙂
Kirsten (results not typical girl) says
February 2, 2011 at 8:52 pmI’ve been spending WAY too much time fluffing and folding my diet. Bring on the bleach, baby and let’s permanent press some success!
FatFighterTV says
February 3, 2011 at 12:22 amOMG. They did NOT leave the laundry basket on the middle of the floor for real, did they? All day???
Oh well, at least you got a post out of it, right? 😉
Miz says
February 3, 2011 at 6:33 amits sad but Im stunned by the amount of laundry THREE of us produce.
best birth control ever.
Sagan says
February 3, 2011 at 12:20 pmHow true it is! We need to do it ourselves if we want to see change happen.
And are they at least doing other chores? Gotta whup some azzes into (cleaning) shape!
JourneyBeyondSurvival says
February 3, 2011 at 3:12 pm“With or without support, you have to dig deep and stay the course anyway. When it really comes down to it, your laundry is your own responsibility, so stay on top of it – even when no one cares that you’ve got 35 loads to knock out.”
You said it all right there. I think that may even be tweetable! Very distilled wisdom right there. Also. Some of the commenters are
whiningpointing out that it’s not all your laundry. Well, I think it works as an analogy. Because most of these lb’s are due to my stress over my responsibility over someone else’s laundry. If it’s gonna get done and stay done, it’s got to be done by me!
Todd says
February 3, 2011 at 5:17 pmYour first mistake was to “assume” somebody was going to do anything with that pile of laundry other than jump in it like a pile of leaves.
Seriously though, you nailed this. You can’t depend on anybody when it comes to your fitness. Either they don’t care, don’t want to be involved, or just have their own stuff going on.
lisa says
February 3, 2011 at 9:16 pmhahha im so not guilty of walking by the filled trash can or the pile of laundry at my house….
;D