There is only one success--to be able to spend your life in your own way. ~ Christopher Morley
Recently I had a very interesting discussion with a friend of mine. It was an old and rehashed discussion except that this time we had an injection of inspiration in the form of a rather tough yet enlightening conversation she had with a friend she hadn’t seen in nearly 10 years.
This conversation revolves around an issue that so many women seem to carry with them, literally and metaphorically. This issue is weight. At some stage of our lives most of us have wanted to, or still want to, lose weight. Some want to gain weight. Those of us that want to lose it often think “I would give an arm to be in a position to want to gain weight!” However, whether we want to gain or lose it all comes down to the same thing; the way we perceive our bodies and the importance we place on having the perfect body.
I know I have spent years with this inner and outer battle. Mainly I battle with the silly fact that what I take in from the outer to the inner in the form of “nourishment” reflects on the ever expanding outer surface of my body. Sigh. But I digress. I know that I have spent many a moment thinking “when I am thin I will... when I am thin then I will be...” You fill in the blanks.
There are so many excuses we have as to why we are not there yet. “I have no time for gym. I am single; it’s hard to cook for one. I am so busy that I eat on the go. I have emotional issues.” The list is endless. And yes, emotional issues need time and work before any healthy plan will be effective in the long run. However, there are three points I want to explore.
One, all the excuses are just that: excuses. When the hard question is asked, as was asked to my friend, and then to me by her, and the answer is honest, that answer is: I do not live the healthiest lifestyle that I could. The hard question of course was why are you overweight? When we took an honest look at things we both realised that if we really wanted to we could make being healthy the number one priority in our lives. Yes, it would take discipline and some hard work but the benefits start immediately and just get better and better. The biggest challenge is to overcome the instant gratification culture that we live in, but it can be done as so many people have proved.
Two, battling the bulge is not the primary concern. The primary concern is living life at an optimum level. When we are unhealthy in any way, we are not living our best life. I use the weight issue as this was our conversation. It could apply just as easily to that niggling cold, that niggling back pain, the regular headaches or migraines that we attribute to stress, financial problems or just that feeling of being not quite happy and knowing that there is more to life. When we are brimming with vitality anything is possible. We are then poised, ready to leap in any direction that brings our lives joy and meaning.
This leads me to the third point. Life, and the time we have to live it really is a gift. Think of it as the biggest gift voucher ever. Each of us gets an allotted amount of time to spend. What we spend it on has no limits. But the amount of time does. This little connection happened when researching quotes for a workshop I am holding. As soon as I read the words of the quote that open this article something clicked. How many years have I spent in the space of “if, when, then”? The answer is too many. How many years have you spent in this same space?
How do we change this?
Firstly, it’s time to stop saying if, when and then. It’s time to say “Now!” It’s time to define “What”. It’s time to ask “What do I want my life to be? What do I need to do to live that life? What does it mean to spend my life in my own way?” I know for me, part of that answer is not to spend another minute of my life wanting to be healthier and more energetic, wanting to have the perfect body so that I can then live a full life with a husband, children, adventure and exploration. There is no action in wanting. There is action in being. If I am healthy then I am energetic. If I am energetic then my life is adventurous. If I am adventurous then my path will lead me to every opportunity that I might have missed by staying in the grey space of when, and it will inform every choice I make going forward. And while all this healthy adventurous energy is swirling around I know that my body will return to its own perfect state as I spend my life in my own way.
What will return to its perfect state, what will you create, when you spend your life in your way? So its five months in to 2010, but it’s a fraction into the rest of the time on the gift voucher of life. Let’s spend the currency of life on what we want!
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