Happy Failure

Consider this week a failed week. There I said it. It was hard to say. I almost didn't blog at all. I almost decided to ignore my blog for the rest of time all because I failed. I have not gained the weight back but I have not lost additional weight either. In my defense I've been sick since Wednesday, but in my prosecution...I have not exercised once...not one stupid time. I plain gave up.

I read somewhere today about the "I can't" complex. People say; I can't eat healthy, I can't lose weight, I can't run a mile, I can't go without pop, I can't stop eating fast food, and so on.  This applies to many areas of our lives. But this complex is dumb.

I can't predict lottery numbers. I can't grow wings and fly. I can't make money grow on the trees in my back yard. I can't make people read my blog. I can't convince my husband to lay off pork rinds. These are all things that better belong in the "I can't" category.

"I can't lose weight," is not a true statement because I can lose weight. All of us can. I want to say that a better statement might be "I don't want to lose weight." But that's not true either. I do want to lose weight. Maybe the statement is simply that... It's hard to lose weight and I'm having a hard time. It's hard to sacrifice.
After my last post, about God and my body, I talked it over with a previous professor of mine. He said some curious things to me.

"How many religions consider gluttony a sin? Why in religion is the hard path always the one we're supposed to take? Why is fasting more sacred than feasting? If the body is a temple, who designed it with such soft walls? What marketing forces in our culture "prey" (couldn't resist the pun) on body images, pro or con?"


"For me it isn't about "accepting ourselves." It is about realizing that most of us were given strong healthy bodies made to last many healthy years, and the choice of whether to keep them strong and healthy (which is hard) is ours. If the Bible teaches us anything, beginning with Eden, it is that we have the power of choice. Remember what got Adam and Eve evicted? Eating."

What he said reminds me that I might not be happy with what I’m trying to accomplish while I’m trying to accomplish it. But...my happiness isn't necessarily the only point...or even the biggest reason. This is a hard journey. It's a long journey. It's not supposed to be easy or always enjoyable. And what fun is it if I’m just in it for the light at the end of the tunnel? This is a learning process. We learn when we succeed. We learn more when we fail.