Brrr…..baby, it’s cold outside! I know…what I am complaining
about now….it’s a balmy 30 degrees….in a few months, 30 will feel like a spring
day! But…after 85 last week, 30 is cold,
but once again, it’s supposed to be in the 80’s on Thursday. Nonetheless, we got frost last night. This
morning I went out to uncover the flowers and the sheets that I used were
frozen stiff. Apparently, they got damp with dew and then froze, but most of
the plants appeared to be ok. I picked a large bouquet for my office because
one of these days….very soon… I need to just say, “Theresa…give it up” and let
nature take its course”, but I’m a pack-rack by nature so whether it’s the
seasons….(I didn’t take my Snowman Christmas tree down until March last year,
remember????) sentimental stuff….(I still
have the cork pot holder trinket thing I made for my mom in kdg), old clothes…(I better NOT ever wear those 6X
clothes in the garage) or ‘drag me down relationships/friendships” even past
hurts and or inconsiderate comments from others, I have a tendency to “hang on
to it/them” too long. I need to learn to “let some things go” and look for the
joy in the autumn! After all, it was “hanging
on to grief, unworthiness, doubt, fear, pain, past failures….etc.” that caused
me to gain so much weight and kept me from losing weight for years. It’s time to LET IT GO!!!!!
I encountered an unusual thing this morning on the drive
into work. I have a very lovely, about ½
hour commute to work, traveling down some beautiful country roads. It is
usually a time of quiet reflection and prayer. I often see an abundance of wild-life, especially
in the early morning. Last evening, I saw a coyote on the way home! Pretty cool to see, but I don’t want them in
my backyard! This morning, I was coming up over a large hill, heading due east
and watching the sun come up when all of a sudden, without warning, I was in a
cloud of fog/steam. Because of the cold temperature and the body of water on
the side of the road, there was a huge area of steam rising up over the water
and for a few moments, I was blinded and literally could not see a thing in
front of me. It was a bit frightening at
first because it happened without warning and I was traveling at about 50 mph.
I immediately slowed down and began to creep through the mist, knowing that the
sun was shining very brightly on the other side. Instinct kicked in and because I traveled
this road many times, I knew what to expect. I didn’t know if there were cars
or animals in the road, however, so I had to just creep my way along a few
miles an hour. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long and before I knew it, I was
back in the sunlight and safely on my way.
I thought about that incident the rest of the drive. It
caused me to think about those situations in my life where… “things were cruising
along at a nice pace, things were going well, I was experiencing success in my
life/job/family, health, I was doing great in school….life was good”….and then…all
of a sudden…almost without warning, THE BOTTOM FELL OUT! A family member got ill, someone I loved
died, I had an accident, failed a test, lost my job, someone I cared about
hurt/betrayed me….whatever. You can fill in your own blanks, because I’m pretty
certain you’ve experienced this in your own life; perhaps not the same as I,
but nonetheless, you’ve experienced times when “Life was good” and then
suddenly it “wasn’t”.
In your journey to a better life, it is likely that you’ve
encountered the same type of situation.
Perhaps you were doing REALLY GREAT on your weight loss plan, and then
you “had a bad week”, really “blew it and gave in to temptation”, hit a plateau
or even had a ….gasp….GAIN….at weigh-in.
You may have been like me and lost a lot of weight years ago, only to “go
off the diet” and gain it all…and then some…back! Perhaps you had gone 6 weeks
without a cigarette, (or a drink/pill/whatever you battle) and then something
stressful happened and you took “just a puff or a sip” and you went right back
to the habit. Perhaps you were doing
really well paying off a bill or saving for an emergency or whatever…and then
you found something that “you just couldn’t live without” and went on a crazy
shopping spree. Maybe it was illness in
yourself or a loved one when the “treatment” isn’t/wasn’t working any more. For
me, I’ve been doing great at controlling my Rheumatoid Arthritis, and then out
of nowhere, it rears its ugly head to remind me that it never really goes
away.
Like me on my drive this morning….when those times happen, (and
they will happen), you have to “rely on instinct”….you have to slow down and
take it a few yards/hours at a time. You
have to remember that “you’ve gone through tough times before” and came out on
the other side just fine, likely even stronger that you imagined, even though
it was/is unpleasant/hard/sad/completely miserable for a time. If you’ve fallen off the wagon/weight loss
plan, are experiencing a tough time emotionally, financially, physically,
spiritually….whatever….and you can’t see “ANY WAY OUT”, trust that it is only
temporary and YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT…slowly, inch by inch, pound by pound, day...or
hour by hour, YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT!!!!!
YOU WILL have better days ahead…YOU WILL lose weight THIS TIME….YOU CAN…and
YOU WILL…change your life/situation!
Just don’t “pull off the side of the road and just sit there”
because you can’t see HOW you will get through it/get back on track/make things
better, whatever….Keep working…keep moving…SLOWLY and WITH CAUTION”….and YOU
WILL….get to where you want to be. How do I know??? Because you/I have been
down this road before…we KNOW HOW TO DO IT….We know what’s on the other side…and
WE KNOW that THE SUN is shining, because if we look really hard, we can see it
shining through the fog/clouds. Don’t
you dare give up!!!!!!!!
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