Motivation

The story behind my motivation is pretty simple. It's my need for a little 'me time' in my world that is dedicated to my family and supporting my family. My name is Jess Lord. I have three boys - seven year old twins and my little one is four. I am an accountant and I work 40+ hours a week and insane hours during tax season.   I also teach Jazzercise.  My husband went back to school a few years ago to pursue a teaching degree and he is in his last year of school.  He also works so his school schedule consists of a lot of evening classes.  My boys are all involved in sports and we are at the ball fields 5 to 6 days a week.  Oh yes and how could I forget.... because I didn't feel like I had enough to do already I decided to join the PTO board this year and volunteer as room mom.  I've got to keep close tabs on all these boys - ha!  Can you tell I'm a busy body.

That was a lot of background but I just want you to understand where I'm coming from when I say that I need exercise to keep myself in check.  I cannot really ever remember a point in my life that I did not do some form of exercise, but my need for it has grown over the years.  I have been Jazzercising since I was in college and I have been teaching it for four years.  I absolutely love the Jazzersise program and the people in the program - everyone is like family.  Once upon a time I was a new mom with these two little boys that seemed to make me crazy some days.  Jazzercise was my escape.  It brought me back to reality from mommy land.  Even if it was just an hour a day - it was MY hour.  I took my love of Jazzercise up  a notch and I started teaching it.  Being up on that stage and in charge of motivating a room full of people really makes you step up your workout.  The harder I work out the better I feel - it's like a legal, good for you drug!!!

This spring I signed up for a mud run.  I had never been a big runner and I did not want to find out the day of the run if I was in shape enough.  Alicia invited me to join them for early their morning runs and that is how my addiction started.  I will admit getting up at 5:00am in the morning is not my idea of fun, especially on the weekends.  But once my feet hit the ground from that bed I am ready to go.  Plus I am back before my family is even out of bed in the mornings.  Alot of it was about creating new habits in my daily routine.  I have to give most of the credit to our running group though.  They are my true motivation.  I love our time together - the conversation is the best and even on three hour runs we never seem to run out of things to talk about.  I love that we all understand and value what exercise adds to our lives and we all have common goals.

My motivation is really just the need for the mental balance that exercise provides.  I have more on my plate now more than ever but I can honestly say I have never felt better.  I am a better mom - I have much more patients and I am teaching my kids healthy habits.  I am a better wife because I feel good about myself.  I preform better at work because I can keep my stress under control.  I am healthier because I have learned what my body needs to keep up with the workouts.  And I am happy because I know that each morning I get to put my shoes on and hit the road with good conversation and great friends and later on in the day I get to bust out some moves at Jazzercise.  Insert a little work, sports and volunteer time here.  I get to end each day with my family and a smile on my face... and that's what its all about!