The Random Thinker

One of the most often-asked questions of my quest for fitness is “How do you stay motivated?  What helps you keep it going?”  I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, and here is a shot at what I think helps me keep going …

1.  It all started with me finally hitting a place where I was SICK OF BEING SO BIG.  I hit an all-time high on the scale, and honestly started thinking about life and how short it might be if I continued on that track.  Life is a huge motivator.

2.  Diana and I are doing this together.  We are eating basically the same foods.  Makes it so much easier to accomplish since we have the same goals in mind.

3.  THE SCALE.  In the 75-ish pounds I have lost to this point, I have had a few setbacks, but not many.  Haven’t hit any hard walls yet, although I’ve come close.  I am finding if I stay true to the plan, eventually the roadblocks come down.

4.  CLOTHES.  It feels really good to be able to walk into a store and buy clothes off the rack THAT FIT.  Not have to order shirts or search for the shirts I like in extra huge sizes.  It is also a great feeling to try on a pair of pants I bought in March because none of my old jeans fit anymore, and now I find that they look just as bad.  And are falling off of me.  (And I am getting rid of my fat clothes this time.  NOT KEEPING THEM as a fall back, because I really do not plan to get that big again.)

5.  PEOPLE.  People notice.  Some have been encouraging me for months.  Some are just noticing.  Just this week, two different people asked me “Are you losing weight?”  My response:  “A little.”  LOVE IT!!!  All in all, it helps!

6.  I FEEL BETTER.  The more I work out, the more energy I have and the more I am able to do.

And, even if I have a big setback, I KNOW I can do this.  And I know deep down that God wants me to be in good health.  And, honestly, people are much nicer and friendlier when you weigh under a metric ton.

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)  I can do everything through him (Christ) who gives me strength.

Yesterday was a hard day for me.  And I KNOW other parents have done the same, but it was a first for me …  (In fact, I told my mom last night that I know how she feels when all of your kids load up within a matter of hours and go far away …)  And that is what we did:  Sent Drew to Brunswick, GA, and then three hours later saw Krissy off to go back to Clemson.  WOW….  Harder than I thought.

Krissy has been doing the Clemson thing ever since the fall of 2009 when she enrolled at Clemson.  She is now living there, graduated last year, and working on getting into PA school.  I’m kind of used to her leaving after 5 years.

Drew is another story.  He has been gone before, and even been far away, but I’ve never packed him off for an entire summer!!  So yesterday morning there was this feeling in the pit of my stomach all morning.  He left after church and drove down to begin his summer with Golden Isle Ministries.  It was a melancholy day until RA recognition service last night.  As I watched the video of their year in review, I saw pictures of RA camp.  It was the picture of our boys “sinking canoes” that brought it all back to me.  That little fellow with his buddies sinking canoes in Lake Chillywater as me and the other dads watched.  It made me think not only of Drew but about Alex Pettigrew and Matthew Andrews, who are serving down at Garden City Retreat Center (not as far away, but gone for the summer just the same).  I thought about these three young men who have been active at Ebenezer since they were babies and how they have grown up hearing about living God’s will and finding your calling.  And it hit me:  Even though I am sad about not seeing Drew every day this summer, he cannot HELP but do this.  He has been training for this moment for his entire life!!!

So … knowing that he is pursuing God’s will REALLY IS greater than feeling sad about his being gone.  Suddenly there was a peace about this I never had before.  Love how God can take even a hard day and turn it around to His glory!!