Recently, I have taken up the challenge attempting to change my body. I was quite tired of the way I looked and frustrated that it kept getting worse. I found myself well over 300 pounds and the more I thought about it the more I ate. I remembered the words of the old preacher who would look down at his gut, patting it with loving affection, and say, “It’s hard to believe I built that with a spoon!”
I had to tell myself over and over that I didn’t get here overnight, and I wouldn’t get back that fast either. I got myself stuck one day, one bad decision at a time. If I was going to get unstuck, it would have to be the same way… one decision, one day at a time.
Good things take time.
And now, six months later, I can say that things have turned around a little bit more. I’m down 35 pounds and changing my body shape. I’m enjoying going to the gym and learning to make better choices for myself. I don’t have a diet secret to share with you, nobody’s going to be beating down my door finding out how, and I haven’t yet amassed a social media following of willing disciples. It’s been through hard work five times a week at the gym and in caloric moderation (only one donut instead of six!). I’m sure I could’ve been further ahead if I had done keto, but I know me and I know that it wouldn’t last.
Don’t be afraid of going slowly;
be afraid of standing still.
The only way out is one step at a time. Your traumatic, wounding event might have impacted your direction, but it did not dictate your steps. Stop blaming that thing, that person. Now is time to take responsibility for today and take a step in the right direction.
In life, you get to choose your ‘hard.’ It’s not always easy to wake up and go to the gym, but it’s not easy to wake up overweight and hating to look in the mirror. My muscles are sore if I work out, my joints are sore if I don’t… I get to choose my hard. It’s the same with money… trying to be responsible adults with our money is no fun, but neither is being up to the gills in debt! I get to choose my hard. Marriage isn’t easy but divorce isn’t the greener grass many hope for. You get to choose your hard. Confronting painful issues from your past isn’t any harder than trying to ignore them. Choose your hard.
What can one step do?
It might not be your weight. Maybe it’s infidelity. Maybe it’s alcohol. Or maybe it’s a destructive thought pattern that’s got you stuck in your head. It could be worry and fear… or perhaps anger. Whatever it is, you’re not going to move forward unless you take a step. Take one step. Just one. Take it…
Let’s BOUNCE BACK
My wife reminds me more often than I’d like to admit that the little things matter the most. I’m a big picture guy who often overlooks the details, but the little things matter. Little things add up. Little things make a big difference. Little things show big heart.
List 2-3 small steps that you could take today (below). Now scratch through all but one. This is the one, the one step you’re going to take today to get unstuck.