176.2 Can We Just Get On With It?

I've heard that phrase, "why can't I just get on with it?" more than once lately coming from inside my head. It's about weight loss and it isn't about weight loss. It's about embracing life, not picking apart every experience, every moment, every connection to be sure that that is the best I can have, do, be!

I really feel that way about my weight today. I was extremely careful yesterday and lost only .2 of a pound. I was hoping for a half to a whole pound. Why not? Why is it always so much easier to put weight on than to take it off? You would think I would have all the answers by now, right? And, no Sue, you aren't going to lose a pound a day.

So I'm going to take a more tickety-boo :) attitude about lots of things in life, and see what happens. With less striving for perfection and less attention to how every little thing in my life is going, maybe life will start happening, full of surprises, promise, and renewal... and, weight loss!

194.0 Experimenting and Learning

I met with my jewelry making group this morning. It was a very small group this morning but it's always so interesting to see what others are making and how they put combinations together. The differences in taste, the fun of getting to know new people, and to see what they do really makes the class enjoyable for me.

While I'm with them I realize how different we all are and yet how strong the creative spirit is within each of us. When I ask folks if they'd like to join the class, I hear that they wouldn't know where to begin, that they don't have design talent, that they can't draw and therefore aren't artistic. The truth of the the matter is that there is hardly a right way. If I gave the same elements to 5 people, my hunch is none of them would combine them in exactly the same way. The bottom line is that with a little trial and error if it pleases you isn't that all that matters? I can't draw and I have never had art training, but I just keep trying until I get it the way I like it.

I think long term weight loss is a little like that. You have to use all sorts of elements in various combinations that feel right for you and in the end you have to like what you are doing and believe in it. When I started this I had no idea how all of the elements would work for me, and I have done a lot of experimenting and trying new and old things to help me get this weight off. I'm still learning, still trying new and different things (eating salad for breakfast :) ), and returning to some old, familiar tools (keeping a log of everything I eat). But the basics will always be there and knowing that with awareness and being engaged with the process I'll continue to lose is what keeps me going.

194.6 Giving Up The Comfort Zone

After a long break, I went back to Paradise Valley Community College to start the second semester of ESL (English as a Second Language) there. I had 17 students this morning, the most I have ever had since I started doing this in 2006. They are from all over the world and vary in age from early twenties up to over sixty. They do inspire me.

Today I tried to inspire them to challenge themselves. This is a free class and there is no preparation required. We do an hour of conversation and an hour of reading, and I plan everything. So, this morning I shared with them my weight loss saga and how everyday I have had to challenge myself to stay with the program. And, I encouraged them to set some new behaviors in place to reinforce what they are learning, and to practice. I talked with them about speaking English in their homes, even for a short time each day. And to watch American TV so as to immerse themselves in English, even for a short time each day.

You know, there are cable TV stations that originate in countries all over the world that can be made available to anyone who wants to see them. It used to be that if you lived here you could only watch stations that were transmitting from the U.S. What can happen now is if you are from Iraq, for example, you can watch only Iraqi TV, live in a neighborhood that is predominantly Iraqi, and you can get along pretty well...unless you want a job, or you want to experience life as an American. Obviously, the folks that are attending my class want to expand their horizons, but they are having trouble giving up their comfort zone. Hello! That's exactly where I found myself when I embarked on this weight loss adventure as I have called it. No matter what the new is all about, what it may promise, it is hard to give up the old.