Motivation-The general Desire or willingness of someone to do something

Motivation is a very long word.  I call them $20 words.  But the definition of motivation is the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

With the ice blanketing across our fine state and with the cold wind and cancelling of schools and work, which somehow triggers "Snow Day" in my head, which also triggers off my "motivation button".  Now I'm not dissing that benefits of a day of leisure, a day filled with naps and quiet and movies and popcorn.  A day when you shower at 3 pm and change into a clean pair of pajamas.  Where work clothes get a day off and your brain get to reset from your busy world. I'm all for these things.

Unfortunately, it does play havoc on my motivation.  I'm usually pretty positive and gung ho on going to work out and eating what I'm supposed to.  But old habits are hard to squash.  Plus the fact there is a two layer german chocolate cake sitting in my fridge with a gallon of vanilla ice cream in the freezer constantly screaming my name while I try with all my will power not to slice a piece off and consider it a small fall off the wagon.  Plus we are stranded together in the house, travel not suggested, ice covering everything and I'm trying not to re-enact a scene from Misery and I'm about to "hammer" through that cake like Kathy Bates did to James Caan's ankles.

Did I eat the cake?  NO.  Did I desperately want to and even find myself pulling the cake container onto the counter and ALMOST sneaking a bite?  YES.

I put small quotes on my Pinterest board to help me along and I have this one on my fridge:

It would have been EASY to eat the cake, who would have known.  Not like I'm going to post a pic of my mug with frosting on it for all to see.  But the fact was that "I" would know.  I put on my workout clothes, not with zealous or excitement, but I did put them on, laced up my sneakers and grabbed my keys and headed out the door to the gym.  My brain was not completely 100% with me on this venture.  That little voice in the back of my mind was shouting, "What the H E double hockey sticks are you doing?  It's cold out here and slippery and we will probably fall down and break our necks and you want to go to the gym when there is a perfectly comfy couch with snuggling soft blankets, a remote control to yourself and CAKE back home?
But luckily there was a tiny tiny voice whispering to me, "You have worked to hard to go back!  You can do this!  Remember you how you feel after you work out!  There will always be cake!"
Now that small voice (believe me, she wasn't loud and in my face, just calm and determined) repeated what I say to my friends but also gave me hope of CAKE in the future.  (She knows how to get me motivated).

Motivation is a struggle for me and perhaps others.  Sometimes it takes just that fork in the road, mine was eat the cake and sit on the couch OR put on my workout gear and walk out the door to the gym.  So far, I think I'm made the right choice but I know I there will come a day when I will pick cake and couch over sneakers and sweat!  But guess what, today was not that day.

I love these two quotes because one is very to the point and the other one just made me smile.

So I lace up my sneakers after work, put on my workout clothes, and put my happy butt into my car and drive to the gym.  I get on the elliptical machine and then I go and do weight training next to not so great smelling guys who have muscles and apparently a shortage of deodorant, or maybe they just workout so hard that their deodorant just gives out.  Needless to say, I go, motivation be high or be low, I have that tiny little voice that says, "You are worth it!  You deserve to take this time for you!  Don't be a quitter! Workout today and you can have tacos for supper!  (What can I say, my little voice knows me too well)