If at First You Don't Succeed - Change your Route

9 months ago I purchased a gym membership to a lovely gym with a pool, heated towels (those kind of sold me on it really), piped in music, and gorgeous fit, strangely friendly people.

I started detouring on the way home, going to the gym, working out, and then heading home. It was great, I was getting fitter, felt better, and you know, was verging on becoming one of those 'gym' people.

Then, my schedule changed at work. Suddenly workouts were at 3:00 AM. Now, just so you know, you can get any machine you'd like at the gym at 3:00 AM. You are training with approximately 5 body builder guys, and no one else. It's kind of peaceful. But just so you know, you then don't get home till 4, and in bed till 5. This is a problem for most, including me, whose schedule could then require being back at work at 10:00 AM.

So the gym kind of fell off the face of the earth for me. In essence, I was paying a large amount of money for a card. Yet, I refused to cancel it. Dang it, I was going to get back to the gym.

Last week, while watching The Biggest Loser again (and spinning again, I am nothing if not consistent in life) I realized if I was ever going to get back to the gym, I had to change something. I went through every scenario of how I could fit Shiny Fancy Gym back into my life, and came to 2 conclusions.

1 - I needed a gym closer to my house, so I could go home, if needed before going to the gym.
2 - I needed a gym that represented a visual every day.

Down the road, on my way to work or town, only a half mile is a little gym. It's nothing fancy, but it's also not bad. It's never crowded. And since it's January it's offering free memberships. I have signed up. I'll be canceling my Big Shiny Gym membership, saving myself some money, and getting a workout in.

The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to take a different path to your end result, we get so caught up that this is the way life is, we forget to look for alternatives.