Priorities

I slept simply awful last night and woke feeling like I was getting a headcold.  Before I even got out of bed, eyes swollen, nose stuffy, I was considering skipping my yoga practice today.  But I compromised with myself and agreed I would do the workout but I would also allow myself an extra 8oz cup of coffee to help combat the little amount of sleep I got.  Getting outside with the dog, in what felt like too chilly of a morning for late July, woke me a little.  I noticed, even in my near-zombie state, I am moving more gracefully because I ache a lot less.  That, and the coffee bribe, was enough to get me on the mat for Day 17. 
I am finding myself pre-dreading the tough parts that I know will be there, but Adriene warms me up slow so things start feeling warm before we do some core strengthening or a balance move.  Today we did wide push ups.  OMG that was challenging for me, bigtime!  But I was able to do about six clean wide push ups before collapsing on my mat.  The other challenging move for me was another balancing move where we stand on one leg, hug the other knee into the body, then slowly move the bent knee behind us and grab our foot with our hand and stretch.  My leg that was down was shaky and that made me lose my balance a few times. I always try to push myself on the balance moves because they really work the core and the shaky/unbalanced stuff is a good indicator that I am not strong.  Having good balance is so important as we age.  As an optician, I see so many people come in to have their glasses fixed after falling, many of them land on their face and have broken bones in the face, and big bruises and sores on their head and face.  I wonder, if someone who practices balance would fair nearly as bad.  It can't hurt to have balance at any rate.  I know reaction time has a lot to do with that too.
Anyway, I am proud of myself for sticking with this challenge even when it hasn't been easy.  Today as I was driving to work I was thinking about how, with a whole extra hour in the morning, I feel rushed for time before work, getting my lunch made and packed, leaving a note for my kids, I have had to neglect cleaning out my bird feeder, which is mushy from a recent rain, and today I didn't have time to stop and fill my water jug on the way to work.  Then I realized, I am making the yoga a priority right now, so some things have to happen after work, that's all.  And that gave me a little surge of energy, to think of how prioritizing yoga is prioritizing me.  I smiled then, and I'm still smiling inside now.  That little thought will get me through today, and I'm hoping this feeling keeps me sticking to prioritizing me for a long time to come.