Promise: At the end of my rambling story, there is a lesson. Read on.
This weekend I went with hubs and pup on a walk. Hubs loves his walks with pup. We have a park that is 2 blocks from our house, connected to our subdivision, and it has a 1 mile hilly loop that circles baseball fields and an ultimate frisbee course. There are trees and even a creek that you cross by bridge.
As we set off from our house, I decided to jog. I am not a jogger. The 5K's I've done were probably 95% walking. At the gym instead of running to get my heart rate up during intervals, I usually will increase the incline super high instead. I'm just not a fast person. Have always been a slow walker, despite being 5'10. Keeping up with my 6'5, fast-walking husband is usually a chore in and of itself, but I figured “heck, I swam a mile without knowing I could do it, maybe I can jog more than I think.”
So off I jogged. I just went forward at a pace that wasn't uncomfortable. I kept going, telling myself I had to pass the next mailbox, or next driveway, or that newspaper- before I could stop. A funny thing happened though, I didn't NEED to stop. So I kept going. It wasn't until I got TO the park that I stopped. I looked back, thinking hubs and pup were right behind me because I was going so slow, but they weren't! They were way farther than I thought.
I waited for them to catch up, then started jogging again. Passed the swing sets, trash can, park bench and picnic shelter.
As I waited for hubs and pup to catch up (hubs, to his credit, had to stop while the dog sniffed everything), I starting thinking “this is the point!”
Chasing or being Chased?
In my opinion, most dieters deep down don't know why they want to lose weight. They may SAY it's for their health or to look good in a swimsuit. That's all fine and well. But I think many people are being chased – and end up chasing the wrong thing.
Have you been chased:
- By parents who are critical of your weight?
- By magazine models making you feel like you should look that way?
- By a significant other that wishes you could lose a few pounds?
- By school bullies who call you names?
- By low self esteem and a mind telling you that your worth is tied to your weight?
Have you been chasing:
- The size 6 dress so you could look super hot and impress that guy at the office?
- Acceptance from your family for finally overcoming that kid chubbiness?
- The perfect rock hard body by overtraining?
- Revenge on those who made fun of you in the past?
I tell you what, over my 29 years of life, I have been chased by many things and have chased many of the wrong things because of it. Each time, instead of catching that perceived “success,” I ended up flat on my face: exhausted, emotionally drained, and back at square one. Over time, my memory would try to forget each failure, but each time I would start chasing again, the journey got a little harder – the item being chased getting a little farther away.
So as I swam, and as I jogged, and even as I posted my zero pound loss today, I realized: I'm not letting anyone or anything chase me and the only thing I'm chasing is to be the best I can. If you think about it, if you are only chasing yourself, you've already won.
My friend Maria has a blog called “Chasing the Now” and it wasn't until yesterday that I understood what it really meant.
So please, stop with the chasing. Once you find out what you're running from, it will be a lot easier to get where you want to go.