In my journey, I feel it very necessary to remind me and those readers who stumble upon these pages that transformation is not just weight loss. This blog has weight loss as one of the goals, yes, but it's way more than that.
Responses both private and public really boil down to feeling de-valued. Employees are asked to work longer hours for less pay or they will be replaced by someone who will. We are made to feel less needed by the world as we age. If we quit anything, there is the echoing subconscious reply of "SO WHAT"? It's not a female issue, because men have felt these exact feelings of nothingness and failure. Albeit weight loss is one of the steps on this path, it's not the destination.
I was inspired after church Sunday, when "Jim" pulled me aside and said he'd been reading my blog. He wanted to encourage me. But it wasn't in the weight loss he shared insight. He said, "remember that even when you lose the weight - and you will, it's the great big swirling ball underneath it all that you will have to deal with." Wow. He had such compassion and understanding. It was a recovery moment right there in the church kitchen. Most of my life has been making folks laugh or influencing them to buy products or services with my God-given talent of speaking. The swirling ball underneath that encompasses the real me with all it's pain and scars, I've kept neatly tucked away from the world...or so I thought. But here was Jim, seeing...and so kindly.
Our human condition is so beautiful and fragile that we see and share in each others experience even when we try to chameleon ourselves into a stupor. Secrets pop out like the innards of a dog bed. It looks fine, but it gets dirty with life's day to day. You take off the outer covering, and wash it along with the inside. The results are clean and fresh smelling, almost like new. But it's really HARD to get that filling back in the old covering and not have some stuffing trying to escape the zippered edges. We are like that. Life gets messy. We clean it up. But we are changed by the experience. Transformation is what life is about. As we transform, we get the tools to help others transform.
Thank you Jim, for taking the time for sharing the insights you did. I'll be focusing on the great big swirly ball underneath the weight loss quest. I entreat the rest of you to look at your own great big swirly ball of secrets too. That's when the real transformation begins.
This morning I watched a new video from my friend, Dean Miller. I know him as a dog training genius, and animal rescue heart that is so big and precious that you can't help but love him. Oh, and he has this little music career, too. (said tongue-in-cheek with a smile, of course). Dean is a legacy of songwriter royalty. But I won't go into all that. Google it yourself. Here's the cherry on the top of the day. He has a new song, a new video and Kris Kristofferson joined him in making it. Powerful message.
All my church friends who might take issue with a bar-setting...get over it. This is real. The tough stuff happens and everyone doesn't run to the prayer room first. God will meet everyone where they are. Psalm 139 if you need Scriptural back-up on that (Though I make my bed in hell...etc) Ok, I digress. So two guys meet in a bar. The conversation leads to the wisdom in a chorus that will help anyone feeling like they can't get up. Whoop - yeah, there is the inspiration for today!
You ain't a loser...till you stop getting up... Dean Miller, from his new album.
See the video HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment