Sometimes it’s hard to remember why you do it. It doesn’t matter what ‘it’ is – it could be that volunteering gig you signed up for; writing a novel in your spare time; coaching that children’s sports team; or – in my case – running your blog.
I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now and I really do love it. It is my passion. The thing that makes my eyes light up and – along with my LGF group training sessions – ensures I feel satisfied at the end of a long day. But that doesn’t mean it’s not hard sometimes. I work a full-time ‘real’ job too – if I’m honest, I guess it’s my safety net. But it’s also something that zaps a lot of energy and sometimes doesn’t leave enough leftover for me to remember exactly why I write the blog in the first place.
See I truly believe that fitness and good health should be accessible to everyone. It shouldn’t be only for those who can afford personal training sessions or those who have the confidence to step inside a gym. Having a healthy, functioning body is something we all deserve and something we should never take for granted. It’s also something we can control – to a large extent anyway. I started this blog because I wanted to give women (and men) everywhere the tools and the confidence to take control of their health and fitness. To share my workouts, recipes and thoughts in the hope that someone would find some little nuggets of wisdom that they could take away and apply to their own training and lifestyle.
But I’ll be honest, sometimes it feels like I’m not reaching anyone (except my family of course – HI GUYS), and sometimes it feels like the late nights and the tiredness is in vain. Then, last weekend something super cool happened. I was at Taronga Zoo doing Roar and Snore (FYI highly recommend for a special occasion) and the lemur enclosure was our last ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the day. After the tour was over, we were sitting outside enjoying the sunshine when one of the keepers came over to us and asked if I was Jess Robinson from Lazy Girl Fitness. She told me that she follows me and loves what I do, and then she thanked me for it. It’s not the first time that I’ve met someone who follows the blog, or follows me on social media, but it’s the first time someone has thanked me for the effort I put in, and that was incredibly appreciated. You could not wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day, and I still get the warm fuzzies when I think about it. I’m not in this for the social media numbers, I’m not into posting endless body shots wrapped up as ‘fitspiration’ and I’m not into staging the ‘perfect’ photo so that you think my life is better than yours. I want this to be real, and useful and positive. And when Ali the lemur-whisperer thanked me, I remembered all of this.
It’s easy to admire people and the work they do from afar. But if you’re ever in the position to offer genuine, positive feedback to that person – whether face-to-face, via email or on social media – don’t be afraid to. You may end up making someone’s week, and reminding them exactly why they do what they do.
So thank you Ali, I owe you one!
Lloyd Camps says
Such a nice Blog. and i really inspired from your blog. thank you.
Ty Wood says
nice blog i am really inspirred from your blog. thak you.
Ali says
This post just made MY day! It was great to meet you Jess, I really appreciate the time you took to have a quick chat 🙂 Next time you visit we’ll have to get the lemurs into some bodyweight challenges too, they’d love it! Thanks again!