PHOTOS AND TEXT BY SUSIE GRIFFIN, GRIFFIN WELLNESS SOLUTIONS, LLC

I just don’t have the time! This statement comes up frequently in my client’s personal training, wellness coaching and massage therapy sessions when positive change is a needed ingredient to accomplish goals. My clients’ expression of frustration and disappointment from unsuccessfully achieving wellness goals is understandable. It is also relatable. Not having enough time in the day to do all the habitual activities of daily living, let alone implement change to those daily habits, is a common perception. 

Another contributing factor to the illusion of time fleeting, is the tendency to spend time focusing on other’s assets (accomplishments, attributes, etc.) or tending to their unsolicited suggestions (you should, or you need to, or you have to do [insert action here]). However, with a little proactive time-out to sort out “need to” and “have to” priorities, one can realize that they do have the time to insert some necessity-for-wellness “want to’s.” Once this state of awareness has been reached, the crucial next steps is defining a focused direction, fueling it with personal devotion and acting on it with committed dedication. 

Flashback several years ago to a continuing education course I was attending in the Pacific Northwest. At one point during the course, the instructor asked for a volunteer to help demonstrate a group exercise. The woman seated next to me raised her hand. She was tall, strong, and athletically built with a powerhouse personality to match. In short, she was no pushover. 

The woman joined the instructor at the front of the classroom. Standing before the instructor, he asked her to raise her arm up ninety degrees and resist him in trying to push it down. Despite her solid effort, the instructor did so easily with minimal effort. During the second part of the demo, the instructor prefaced the demo by asking the volunteer to look beyond the walls in front of her into the future that held a vision (direction) which was deeply personal, compelling, and palpable (devotion). He then asked her again to raise her arm up and resist him in pushing her arm down. Her arm didn’t move a millimeter despite a maximal effort on the part of the instructor and minimal part on the woman (dedication). She had perfectly executed the “three d’s” of direction, devotion, dedication, and the result was impactful. Her stunned disbelief mirrored the entire class’s reaction. When she returned to her seat, I asked her what her vision had been. She said, “I saw my daughter (who was at that time six years old) graduating high school.” 

A few years later, one of my clients came to me for help in walking ten thousand steps in a day (direction). While this feat is not typically perceived as challenging to most people, it was to her. She had been struggling for years to find the time between all her “have to’s” and “need to’s” to fit in this importantly personal “want to.” We worked together to identify realistic hurdles, recruit resources, and construct solutions and situations to ensure success. 



Several weeks passed and she was back in my office sharing her experiences and an inspirational story. One day, she was driving with her teenage daughter completing errands around town. The day was winding down and my client was running short on steps...and gas. She pulled into a gas station to fill up her tank. When she stopped, her daughter automatically started to get out of the car to pump the gas and was surprised to see her mother do the same. “What are you doing?” the daughter asked her mother. My client replied, “I want to get my ten thousand steps in, so I’m getting out and pumping my gas.” (dedication) The daughter remarked, “Cool.” (devotion) My client not only achieved her previously illusive ten thousand step a day goal but admitted that it had been years since she had taken the time to do the simple task of pumping her own gas. Most importantly, she proved to herself and to her daughter that she could implement change simply by taking the time to do so. 

“If we don’t take time for our wellness,

we might be forced to take time for our illness.” – Unknown

When my clients express feeling overwhelmed with their perception of so much to get done and not enough time, I can really relate. Despite having coached many clients through the process of change, I am also susceptible to this perception and the feelings of frustration and defeat. However, I am in tune with what this state looks, feels and sounds like for me. When I become aware, I take a dose of my own medicine: take a time-out to sort out my life and wellness priorities. 

Recently, this time-out revealed an imbalance of play between my two-wheeled toys and my four-legged furry kids. Each of them shares the components of moving through outdoor, natural environments, and navigating land biome challenges with varying rates of speed and motion. Additionally, both can reward the rider with an increased sense of body awareness, balance, and reflexes. While it is commonly known that regular exercise helps to reduce blood pressure, stress levels, tension, anxiety, and anger, especially when performed in green spaces, research studies have shown the same effects gained from horseback riding. Other scientific studies reveal that horseback riding improves the riders’ sense of self-esteem, empowerment, patience, and trust. Every mountain biker who has successfully sessioned a previous nemesis of a feature would attest to the same empowering gains. 

After my time-out sorted out a balanced schedule of play (direction), I took my horse out of her corral and ended her year of living leisurely. I recruited my husband (devotion), who accompanied me on his mountain bike – our equines play nicely with mountain bikes. We climbed aboard our mounts, mine furry, his carbon and we sauntered out to explore our neighboring world (dedication). 

Tally Ho!