Approximately 25 years ago my then
mother in law quit smoking. She was middle aged and had smoked all
her life. Her motivation came from my eldest son who at the age of
five just kept telling her “it's bad to smoke, Grammy” every time
he saw her light up. I guessed that she had run out of excuses for
him and for herself. I assumed that she was just tired of the whole
thing and gave in to the inevitable. She quit cold turkey and we were
all proud of her.
I was visiting that son and his
family recently and his sweet, innocent, five year old boy made some
remarks to me that have had that same motivating effect. His first
remark was made as we snuggled on the couch together. “Grandma, you
are huge! You are almost as big as Santa.” I laughed and agreed
with him. (I am about 40 pounds overweight... ouch... that was hard
to write!)
The next day I could tell that he
had been thinking about it because he calmly told me that I ate too
much and that was why I was so huge. Again, I agreed. You can't argue
with the truth. But the third observation was the one that finally
got to me. While tucking them into bed, I hopped up on the corner of
their long dresser to sit while I read them a book. In a very
concerned voice, he said, “Grandma, I don't think you should sit on
that. You might break it and fall!”
At that point I was literally
feeling like a WHALE! I mean, really? I'm a little more than chubby
but in my neck of the woods, I'm still small compared to many others
I see. That and all my many excuses flooded through my head on the
trip home. But when I arrived at home, I took a long, hard look at
myself in the mirror (ouch...that was hard to do) and realized that
he was right. I am huge.
Then I remembered my mother in law
quitting smoking. And I knew...she did it out of love for her
grandson. She (and I) understood that we are being watched and what
we do matters because of the influence we have on them. That
knowledge and the love we have for them and they for us is the most
powerful motivation in the world! Ask a grandparent what they
wouldn't do for their grandchildren? The answer will most likely
be...nothing.
So I am determined to get back in
the shape I used to be. I have changed my eating habits and so far
have managed to workout out every day. Something I found easier to do
because of technology. I run the most hated workouts on my laptop
while watching a favorite show or movie on TV. Boo..yah! I'm already
feeling better and remembering that I used to love being fit and
strong.
The next time I visit (in a few
months) I want to hear my grandson exclaim, “Grandma, you're not
huge anymore!” That is the picture I hold in my head when I want
to fall down and die from “Sweating it with the Oldies”. I'll
keep you posted. That's the view from my side of the street, what's
yours?
