Dana Potocki is the Scaling Back weight loss contestant from Weight Watchers.
New Year, New You? Let’s throw that out the window.
On January 1st did you wake up and become a totally different person? I certainly didn’t, and I’m betting you didn’t, either. The whole “New Year, New You” mantra is so overused and completely false, yet it is tossed about on so many articles we read! And I get what they are saying – it is an opportunity for a fresh start. But let me ask you this – isn’t every day an opportunity in and of itself?
In a lot of what I do, I catch myself saying “Monday I will start”. And, if Monday comes and goes, I scrap the plan until the next Monday. Isn’t that silly? For some reason I feel that either I do it at the beginning, or it isn’t going to get done until the next “beginning” comes around. What a dumb way to look at things.
Yet, I caught myself over and over during the holidays doing that very thing. Let me tell you what – participating in Scaling Back has been an amazing journey so far, no buts about it – and it has been made a more difficult challenge because, hello? HOLIDAYS! And, you know what? I enjoyed my holidays just as I do every year, but this time, with a little more knowledge and self control under my belt. And, I’m still new to this, so yes I did overdo it a bit, because I’m not perfect. So, I would tell myself - “Come Monday, I’m back on it”. Only, a couple Mondays came and went and I wasn’t “on it”. The first time this happened, I went ahead and waited until the next Monday. Then, it dawned on me. Why blow the other 6 days? Why not just treat each day as if it were a Monday – a new opportunity?
And, each day is a new opportunity! We are blessed to wake up each day with a clean slate – we get to try again! Food, Smoking, Alcohol, other addictions, family, faith, work, hobbies – all of it, we are given another chance every day to do a little better.
It is so hard when you have a mountain to go around. I look at that scale and say to myself “Good grief, Dana, we are never going to get there” or “Seriously, does the battery need to be changed cause those numbers aren’t moving very fast”. Because the reality is, they aren’t moving fast at all. No improvement in our life is ever going to happen very fast if it is a lifelong change. And, that is so important to grab a hold of! Do you know why? Because truly, we are only human, and change that sticks happens slowly, over time. You are changing your body, the way you think, the way you act, the way you breathe. You must be kind to yourself as you go through the transformation that lasts your lifetime.
So – how about you? How are you doing so far with improving something about yourself?
