Wrap-up From Paris Trip - and Before/After Picture!

I've been home for a few days and had a little time to reflect on my trip to Paris to run the Paris Marathon. 

I've also attached a before/after picture to this blog for anyone who hasn't seen my before pics.

I have to say that the shirt I'm wearing in the "after" side of the picture really sums up how I feel about myself nowadays.  I'm a "Finisher".

I didn't used to be.  As a matter of fact, finishing what I had started was NOT my gift.  It was NOT a strong suit of mine.  Oh sure, I'd have plans.  Lots of plans.  Always plans and more plans.

And I'd always start out with zeal and intention and focus. 

And then time would pass.  And I would "lose" my "motivation". 

What IS that, anyway?  What does that word mean?  Because anytime I've EVER relied on "motivation" to get something done, it has Never.  Gotten.  Done.

This journey, both the Paris Marathon AND my health journey this time around, have taught me to focus my energy NOT on FINDING AND SUSTAINING MOTIVATION, but instead I made a fundamental decision for health.

A fundamental decision towards BECOMING and STAYING healthy.

There is SUCH a difference between being MOTIVATED and DECIDING.

Motivation is always external.  It is something coming up, or a dress I want to fit into, or a reunion I want to go to, or a trip I want to take and be able to have FUN packing instead of CRY in my closet the night before we leave.

Motivation builds and wanes.  It comes in like a lion and then slips out the back door like a lamb when you BLINK leaving you bewildered and deflated.

But making a fundamental decision towards HEALTH changes EVERYTHING.  Most of all it changed ME.

How?

Making a fundamental decision toward HEALTH meant that I was committed to the process of becoming and staying healthy.  It BECAME my overriding orientation, not just something I was "doing for awhile" like a "diet" or something.

Making a fundamental decision toward HEALTH meant that EVERY DAY I examined each choice in the light of whether it supported my primary goal of BECOMING AND REMAINING healthy, or whether it didn't.

Those factors that may have taken me farther AWAY from my health goals more often then not got pitched by the wayside.  Did I occasionally choose short-term gratification over my long term goals?  Yes, occasionally I did.  But since my ORIENTATION was that of being oriented towards health, it was simple to shake it off and remind myself of WHO I WAS. 

Not "what I was doing", but WHO I WAS and WHO I WAS BECOMING.

Namely, a fit and healthy person.

Not someone who was "doing a diet".

But a fit and healthy person.

I think my attached picture shows the proof is in the pudding.  I made a fundamental choice to become and remain a fit and healthy person, and the program offerings for the plan I utilized in this area gave me EVERYTHING I NEEDED to succeed.  But it was ultimately MY CHOICE to utilize them.  It wasn't foisted upon me.  I chose to pick up those tools and to commit myself to the process.

And so I did.

So where are YOU right now?  Are you on another "diet"?  Or have you entertained the thought of making a FUNDAMENTAL DECISION TOWARDS HEALTH?

It's always a choice, isn't it? 

Rinse and Repeat!