How Are You Living Your In Between Time?

We aren’t promised anything. Our days are numbered. You know that, right? We have a birth date and a death date. We don’t have any in between dates. We have milestones and stories and life living. How we spend those is our choice. Similarly, how we don’t spend them is our choice.

We don’t choose that death date, but we can choose what we do with the in between dates. We can choose how to show up for ourselves. The privilege of living this life is just that, a privilege. We only get one life. We don’t get nine. We aren’t cats.

In my mind as I write this, is my dad. I made an Instagram Reel about this very thing and I also posted over on my Facebook story. His begin date was April 21, 1940. His end date was June 3, 2000. He had 60 years to live. 60 years to show up for himself.

He got dealt a hand that wasn’t the best genetically. He had lots of heart disease in his family. He had lots of alcoholism in his family. He jumped right in to those. My dad believed that if a little bit of something was good, a lot was better. He was funny that way. As a result, he would jump on diet trends. Always looking to lose weight, but always loving food. SlimFast shakes in the fridge, yep. Herbalife in the cupboard, for sure. Aloe vera juice in the fridge, of course. If a little bit of olive was good, a lot was better.  Giant containers. He loved HoHos and he loved Snackwell Cookies. Low fat was way better, you know, even if you ate 14 of them.

How are you showing up for yourself in this in between time? It really is so easy to push it off. The changes. We want to make changes, yet we say there is aways tomorrow. The voice tells you to wait until next week. Oh, next month looks better. Maybe I will start Monday. Do you follow through?

I think what happens to a lot of us is the dichotomous thinking. The all or nothing. The good and bad. We forget about the gray area. We forget about the in between area. We just keep doing what we do. We keep staying stuck, because frankly, change is really hard. Sometimes we are afraid to change. Sometimes we just keep blaming our genetics. Genetics are like a loaded gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger. I have loved that quote.

Change takes time and it takes a lot of patience. Change takes consistency. If you do something consistently, you make a change. You notice the change. It’s motivating. It makes you feel good. It gives you the confidence to keep going.

Start thinking about how you want to show up for yourself in this gray area. How do you want to show up in this in between?

It’s possible to still have fun and be healthy. Do you really need to party every single weekend? Do you really need to drink wine every single night? Do you really just want to sit around and watch TV all night? Start asking yourself those hard questions. Start looking for places where you can make small changes. The small changes definitely add up to big results. But, you have to become aware first.

What are you doing now? Do you feel tired all the time? Are you trying to keep up with all the obligations? At some point, something has to give. Burning the candle at both ends and expecting to be able to live a healthy life, is a delusion.

What does optimal health look like for you? What does that person look like to you? Above all, that is what we are striving for. That is what most people want with their health. Optimal. Not okay. Not marginal. Optimal.

Remember, it’s the in between that matters. It’s not the beginning. It’s not the end. Find your in between and start working toward your optimal. You have a lot to live for.

Begin to love the Mondays. Begin to love the in between time. Begin to love the wait time.

It’s all time and it zooms by.