We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking
we used when we created them.
~ Albert Einstein
Following up on yesterday's rant with the most perfect quote.
Just think if we'd listened to those crazy hippies back in the '70s, and put up solar panels and windmills and moved forward with hydroelectric power. Where would we be today?
I can almost guarantee we wouldn't be hand-washing pelicans in Dawn dishwashing liquid.
Relating the quote to the quest for better health, greater fitness and fewer pounds, what can we do differently to further these goals? What haven't we tried? How can we open our minds to new possibilities?
If you've been reading this blog (or the previous one) for a while, you know how much I dislike weight training, purported to be one of the keys to weight loss. I flirted with Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred for a little bit earlier this year, and then dropped it like a hot potato once I got busy in the garden.
(Actually, I've dropped just about all intentional fitness activities since I got busy in the garden! Astonishingly, I've also dropped some poundage. Hmmm.)
Which leads me to believe that for me, for now, not focusing on weight loss (and all it's supposed to take in order to accomplish it) is one step toward the solution.
Is this the same as accepting what is? I've heard for decades, beginning with a get-your-shit-together seminar in those crazy '70s, that accepting what is is the first step in changing it. Perhaps I've never fully embraced the theory.
Honestly, this spring has been a heaping opportunity of busy-ness, the garden is only the beginning. I have a tiny part-time job (I hesitate to call it that, it's so much fun) two afternoons a week, the garden needs daily maintenance, harvesting has begun, the lawn needs mowed again just about the time I finish it, I'm paying more attention to the state of my home's cleanliness, we've traveled a bit and had a delightful houseguest … who has time to think about fitting in a fitness run?
Well, I guess I have time to think about it, but I sure don't have time to do it! Creative thinking – and action – will lead me to a new place, one of acceptance or one of change.
Or maybe one of something I haven't yet thought about.
2 comments:
Accepting what is doesn't mean you don't want it to change. It just means you see where you are and accept it as reality. Lots of people are oblivious to their real weight, what they are eating, how much/little they exercise, what physical limits they have.
I like that you are NOT focusing on weight loss and all that comes with it, and are living your life incorporating what you already know. Gardening is great exercise, it's productive, and relaxing. You like to walk and are realistic that running isn't a good option for you now. But you're still moving!
We can become obsessed with weight loss and exercise and forget to have a real life. One of the things I've loved about you is that you DO have a real life and passions that have nothing to do with your body.
Love your thinking and your quote :)
I think there is a lot of power in accepting. Perversely, I was never able to lose weight until I learned to accept myself as I was and stopped hating myself for being fat. It didn't MAGICALLY cause weight loss, I still had to work for every pound shed, but somehow that acceptance enabled it.
It's a valid decision to not focus on WL, and I totally support you in that! For me, I don't lose weight unless I'm trying to, sadly it doesn't occur just because I'm eating well and exercising. I would love it if it worked that way!
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