One of the things I love and value the most about the way we chatter on here and exchange thoughts and perspectives is that sometimes out of nowhere I throw a lasso around a couple of things I’ve read, tie them together in my mind with a big bow and all of a sudden there’s a brand new-to-me insight that I can add to my bag of tricks. To be honest, that’s what’s keeping me nailed on and committed – I can’t even begin to tell you how much it’s helping.

Something that Fleury said in her guest post, and the genius way in which she knitted together the parallels between life and diet really got me thinking.

Her very first point was if you drop it, pick up the pieces…well you would, wouldn’t you? Take this morning for example, I knocked a box of cotton buds off the shelf in in the bathroom and they skittered to all four corners of the room. It would never have occurred to me to just leave them there.

Once I’d finished muttering naughty words I picked up all the ones that hadn’t managed to gather fluff in their bid for freedom and put the rest in the bin. I didn’t have to think hard about whether I should do it or not, it was a simple reflex action, because my brain is wired that way. If we didn’t pick stuff up as we went along, our lives would be spent stepping over crap on the floor, and I don’t know anyone that could live that way. With the possible exception of my boy…he could live that way 🙂

Reading Fleury’s post again this morning, my brain made the leap from her words, to cotton buds and then right over to something Kathy said in a blog post a while ago, about keeping her side of the street clean. Kathy was talking about owning your own actions, and not worrying what other folk are up to on their side of the street – as long as you keep your side of the street clean you’re doing ok.

I know it’s not strictly the same thing – Kathy was making a different point – but that’s the weird way my mind works. It made the leap, and all of a sudden putting those things together created an image in my head that just seemed very logical and…well, obvious.

I don’t want to live in chaos. It’s not how I live my life, so why would my approach to losing weight be any different?  If I drop something, and I pick it up straight away, my side of the street stays clean and I’m not required to navigate a path through crap. It’s like nothing happened. It’s dealt with, right away, and life carries on. My street isn’t ruined. I don’t have to move house because things will never be the same again. That would be an over-reaction, right? I’d pick it up, and move on with my day. So if I ever drop a blooper on my diet, why should it be any different..?

I mean it’s harder, because there’s the buggeration factor otherwise known as the Asshole voice, who would bust his balls to see the ground under my feet littered with the wrappers of a hundred dieting fails. But the principle is the same. Once you pick up the pieces, life goes on. Your side of the street is as clean as it was before whatever you dropped hit the deck, and you can move on.

Speaking as someone whose internal wiring has always thrown me into the path of ‘all or nothing’ thinking, it’s a concept I’ll need to work at, since it’s as far away from my dieting default as it’s possible to get. But I’m recalibrating, you know? I’m choosing it as one of the life skills I need to practise until it’s perfect. I’m hoping that by the time I get to Skinny Town it’ll be as natural to me as breathing.

********************************************************

I’m working my nuts off to get fit so I can complete a 90km trek in October, to raise money in memory of my dad. You can read his story HERE and I would be so grateful if you’d help me honour his memory by donating whatever you can afford. Together we can make a difference and help other people who have been affected by mental illness. Thank you!

Like it..? Tell your friends!