From Cocoon to butterfly

LIFE ISN’T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS…..
IT’S ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN!

How many of us have really danced in the rain? Most people would say no. When it starts to rain, they head inside and just sigh, wondering when the rain will stop. But me, I will admit, I love the rain. Especially when it is a heavy rain because then it starts to puddle on the groud like a river. I remember in college, seeing it raining and then going out behind my apt and just playing in the rain and have a great time. Great stress reliever! Most don’t want to because to get out there means getting into the rain, getting wet, feeling the rain and looking silly but everyone secretly wishing they were you. Others just wait out the storm, wanting to be safe and out of the weather. How does this pertain to weight loss, it makes me think of all the excuses I have made or have heard from peooploe about why they haven’t started or better yet, why they were quitting. Everyone thinks that to lose weight, life must be perfect. So many fail because something bad happens in life and they just quit, jump off the wagon because “someone came to visit, I was asked out to eat, TOM is here, My DH quit his job” and so on. Now, these are some serious things and yes, life is not always smooth, ok, life is never smooth. We expect that at work and when things go bad at work, do we just quit, no, we work through the storm. Why is it when we are losing weight, we just quit and let life beat us? Because we feel safe with our food and our weight. WE don’t want to get wet and look silly in front of others. We take the easy way out instead of joining the storm and riding it out. Many people have asked me how I can live in China and it’s culture because it is hugely different then US’s culture. Many have come here and been unhappy with the change. I tell them because I have to be like a reed in the river. The reed grows tall and straight but it is flexible. When the water is going so fast, it bends. Yes, sometimes storms come and cover the reed and you would think the reed would drown but it doesn’t, it stays there and when the water starts to recede, it is back up there again, proud and tall. When the winds start to blow, it blows where the wind takes it. But the most important thing, it is flexible but it never moves from where it is planted. In weight loss, we must be like that, have ourselves planted firmly and not move from there. Sometimes things will happen but we have to learn how to bend to them, flow with them. Yes, sometimes the storms will cover us but if we just wait out the storm, one day we will be standing tall and straight again. And the best thing, reeds are thin!! Let’s be a reed!