Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
I scoff at the people who post frantic messages at 3FC. "How can I lose 25 pounds in a month?" "If eat only 800 calories a day, will I lose faster?" "If I eat only veggies (or grapefruit or protein drinks or...) will I lose faster?" "If I exercise 5 hours a day, 7 days a week, can I lose 100 pounds in 3 months?" But, don't I have the same mentality? I may not be resorting to desperate measures, but that impatient little voice in my head is definitely screaming, "Faster! Faster! Faster!"
Shut up. This isn't a race.
Milestones are useful as markers of achievement but they are not meant to be goals to sprint toward. Losing 10% of my body weight will be fantastic. Getting below 200 will be amazing. Reaching the 180s will be mind-boggling. Being able to run a mile will be spectacular. Competing in my first 5K will be a triumph. But I can't attach a carved-in-stone date to any of those things or I'm only setting myself up for disappointment and failure.
I love this quote by Emerson: "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." Spring in Ohio this year was glorious. Everything slowly unfolded in a riot of brilliant greens, dazzling rainbows, and new life. The tree by my front door quietly awakened and each day I could see a new bud, a new bit of yellow creeping toward green, a leaf gently unfolding into the warm sunshine. The full blossom didn't happen overnight; it was a slow and patient process.
This is how I want my journey to wellness to be. I don't want to get so blinded by the mental image of a tree in full summer glory that I forget to enjoy the slow and silent majesty of the creeping springtime.
I am going to bookmark this post and read it every day this week, I think. Thank you. You are so right. You're also a poet, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Writing is my career, and I have my poetic moments. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy this post blessed you!
Well, don't I feel like this post was written just for me? Guess I'm just self centered like that... LOL
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I'm amazed and in love and I too will probably revisit this post again and again. It's so easy to get frustrated with weight loss, so easy to forget that permanent changes take some serious time and effort, and at the end of the day every little moment can be a fantastic victory.
Thanks for this post, Rochester. You seem to be the perfect person to know just what to say, just when I need it these days... Even when it's by accident like this. ;)
Diana, you and I seem to be on the same wavelength much of the time right now. I think it's wonderful that we're able to cheer each other on!
ReplyDeleteGlad this post was meaningful for you. :)