You Have To Own It

There are many places I could start on this blog.   So many things to talk about, from what kind of veggies we should all be including in our diet, to the exercise we do, to managing our time, the list just goes on and on.   But I want to start with a conversation I had just a few weeks ago with my dear sister Paula.   Once again, she lamented my situation with my eyesight, and how unforunate it was that I had become (legally) blind in my left eye, and had lost some sight in my right eye as well.   My sister is a very sweet person, both sympathetic and empathetic.   She has said the same thing to me several times over the last few years, just wishing that something would come along to alieve my ailment.   It was, she said, so unfair that I had had this happen to me.   This time, I tactfully disagreed.  No one did this to me, I countered.   I did this to myself.

I went on to explain that I believed, in large part, that my condition had been brought on by my own diet.  No one had forced me to eat fatty foods, for years, that would only clog and harden my arteries. No one but me had opted to ignore all warning signs.   No one but me chose to ignore maintaining any type of exercise program that might have lessoned the effects of a disastrous diet.

No one wants to be fat.   No one wants to be unhealthy.   However, few look towards themselves in accepting the responsibility for getting fit, for getting healthy.   So many want to find a secret pill, read the diet book that unlocks the mysteries.    From my point of view, this basic human weakness has resulted in a billion dollar industry that preys on the weak.  And when the pill fails, when the book fails, we have a convenient scapegoat.   This pill didn't work at all---they just ripped me off.   That book made no sense at all.    So we try another pill, read another book.   And the cycle continues.

Here's how I view my own condition.   I made myself this way.  I ate the food.  I ignored the signs.   I rationlized and excused myself from doing the exercising.   It took years, but I finally made it to 252 pounds.   I did that.   And it was up to me to undo it.   No a pill and not a book.    Me.