My initial reasons behind a new, healthy lifestyle were inner healing and becoming comfortable in my skin as a metaphor for feeling emotionally balanced and whole. Achieving that balance allows me to enjoy life more, feel more resilient, receive more of what I want, and have energy to help others. Healing from the broken shards that used to lay in my path has been my ultimate non-scale victory. Yet as the progression of my journey continues, the reasons evolve.
I now walk into a building, capturing my reflection in the glass, feeling pride for the body I maintain. This summer takes on new meaning when I don a bathing suit for the first time comfortable in the body that resides within it. Walking proudly, full of energy and strength, is my new day dawning. Yet what keeps me going, what is the “why” now that my arena has transformed and the game has changed. What propels me to keep the focus, the consistent process of small steps leading to progression and long term success and maintenance?
My new “why” is about longevity. Playing catch with my son today, the answers of my “why” reached out with each throw, watching my little one excited by life, by baseball, by simplicity. I want that joy to sprout in me as it does in him. Without my health, that happiness is as good as gone. Living a long, meaningful life with my children and husband is my “why”. My parents were twenty-five years older than me, whereas I am 35-40 years older than my kids. This fact cannot be denied as much as I may defy age. To remain fit and fab, young and energetic, I must repeat the process of my current journey consistently over a lifetime.
To utilize motivation for any goal is a powerful piece of success. Feeling the urge to step off the rails from a food lifestyle when barraged by obstacles, rather than stay the course is typical. Where the food supply consists mainly of processed, chemical-laden edibles, and dairy, sugar, and bread are commodities, it feels often like working against a tide. Yet moving against the grain that brings health, happiness, and well being are worth the efforts to establish longevity, inner peace, and healing. My reasons for maintaining consistent action are evolving, yet results are the same. Contemplating this change is part of the journey.