It seems strange to connect my decision to end my gym membership with health.
It isn't like the gym was costing me a ton of cash ($15.89 per month).
But the gym membership was costing me psychological energy.
It was causing me psychological stress.
As the kids have gotten older, my mental energy load has increased what feels like a thousand-fold. (It probably is actually a thousand-fold and not just a feeling of that being the case.)
I'm trying to keep up with all their things:
field hockey practices
science fair paperwork
student council schedule
homework
Girl Scout events
doctor visits (which feel like all the time, given G is seeing a psychiatrist once a week for ERP and M has a plantar wart that has been needing twice-monthly visits, and M has orthodontist appointments once a month, and the boys and I need allergy shots anywhere from 2-3 times a week (me) to every 2-3 weeks (the boys).
Plus, there are my jobs---subbing, cottage school, tutoring, consulting, freelancing.
Plus, there is the podcast which is my hobby right now.
Back in the days of yore, I was home a lot with the kids. Nap times made afternoon outings impossible. I yearned to be out doing something.
At that time, getting out of the house was a treat for me, a much-needed opportunity to speak to adults and get away from my children.
It was my me-time.
But now, I'm rarely home, and when I am, I don't want to leave.
I don't want to get in the car and drive somewhere I don't absolutely HAVE.TO.BE.
I am happy to go for a walk on the treadmill or take a walk with D during his lunch break when he works from home or do some yoga stretching on the floor of my living room.
Having the gym membership was one more thing that required my attention and needed me to remember it.
To have it off my mental to-do list makes me feel so much better.
And that is worth a lot more than the $200 it was costing me every year.
It isn't like the gym was costing me a ton of cash ($15.89 per month).
But the gym membership was costing me psychological energy.
It was causing me psychological stress.
As the kids have gotten older, my mental energy load has increased what feels like a thousand-fold. (It probably is actually a thousand-fold and not just a feeling of that being the case.)
I'm trying to keep up with all their things:
field hockey practices
science fair paperwork
student council schedule
homework
Girl Scout events
doctor visits (which feel like all the time, given G is seeing a psychiatrist once a week for ERP and M has a plantar wart that has been needing twice-monthly visits, and M has orthodontist appointments once a month, and the boys and I need allergy shots anywhere from 2-3 times a week (me) to every 2-3 weeks (the boys).
Plus, there are my jobs---subbing, cottage school, tutoring, consulting, freelancing.
Plus, there is the podcast which is my hobby right now.
Back in the days of yore, I was home a lot with the kids. Nap times made afternoon outings impossible. I yearned to be out doing something.
At that time, getting out of the house was a treat for me, a much-needed opportunity to speak to adults and get away from my children.
It was my me-time.
But now, I'm rarely home, and when I am, I don't want to leave.
I don't want to get in the car and drive somewhere I don't absolutely HAVE.TO.BE.
I am happy to go for a walk on the treadmill or take a walk with D during his lunch break when he works from home or do some yoga stretching on the floor of my living room.
Having the gym membership was one more thing that required my attention and needed me to remember it.
To have it off my mental to-do list makes me feel so much better.
And that is worth a lot more than the $200 it was costing me every year.
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