Love this article from the Wall Street Journal about conquering the gym:

The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym.

The one that sticks out to me the most is this analogy comparing the gym and marriage:

26. A successful gym membership is like a marriage: If it’s good, you show up committed and ready for hard work. If it’s not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad TV.

I love that!  Because it’s so true. Just having a gym membership and showing up isn’t going to get you in shape and just being in a relationship isn’t going to make it stimulating, satisfying, or happy.  You have to work at it.

Sometimes it’s harder than others.  Sometimes you’re pumped to lace up the sneakers and rock out to your Glee on the elliptical and sometimes you have to repeat “just get out the door” over and over again to get yourself there.

Sometimes you’re excited to listen to your significant other and share your thoughts/feelings/experiences with them and other times you have to remind yourself to be patient and loving so you don’t rip their head off.

But when you do put in the effort, it feels so damn good.