Just Start (Even When It’s Messy)

I recently did a podcast with Barbara Hannah Grufferman, and she asked me three questions people wanted to take away from our 45-minute conversation about strength, exercise, and how to stay healthy in midlife.

My first answer was simple:

Just start.

And here’s the thing.
Even after years of practicing just starting—even after years of being a strength and conditioning coach and a nutrition coach—I’ve found that when you’re down and out, when things are messy, when everything feels awry… it is really, really hard to start.

So how do you do that?

Because this past week? Whew. I felt sick. The Christmas tree is barely up. The lights are barely on. There’s no food in the house. The dog has been sick. I could go on and on and on with all the things that have gone awry this past week.

But I can also sit in the magic of starting every day somewhere.

For me, that looked like showing up on a screen with people—working out, moving through mobility—even when I didn’t feel like doing it. And I’m glad I pushed myself to do it. Because when we actually push, we get out of that funk. We breathe new space and new life into the places and the things we want to do.

And even if we feel completely wiped out after—like that’s it, I can’t do anything more today—we can still sit in the magic of this season.

I can stare at the tree that only has one string of lights on it. No ornaments. They’re still in the boxes. I can look at our little cute puppy, take a sigh, take a breath, and say:

This is enough.

It’s going to be a messy Christmas.
It’s not going to look like last year.
It’s not going to have all the things.
It’s not going to have all the gifts.

Christmas is just not going to be the way it’s been before.

But the magic?
We’re all still together.
We’re all generally pretty healthy.
And we can have so many great little moments—moments of joy, moments of spark, moments of just being with people. Laughter. Games. The easy stuff.

What a beautiful season it is to transfer energy away from all the stuff and all the things you have to do… and into letting go. Into being OK with not everything getting done.

So this season, I’ll ask you:

✨ What could you take away from just starting somewhere?
✨ What’s one small thing you could start—for you—before everyone else?
✨ What tiny action could make you feel magical about the mess later?

Something that lets you say, I did enough. And it’s okay.

Let me know what you think below. And if you’d like to listen to the great talk I shared with the author of “Aging Better” and podcast host Barbara Grufferman, you can take a listen here….

Here’s to a very merry, very messy holiday season.

Love to all of you who continue to show up—to be here, to read, to let this motivate you or guide you or give you permission to start small, even when it’s messy. 💛

Holiday hugs and kisses.

-Jenny