Puzzles.
I used to always do them as a child, especially with my grandma. She was the queen of puzzles. I would sit alongside of her for hours in her house in Queens, NY with 1,000 pieces of “whoa” laid out before us on a cutting board the size of a stovetop. As we would devote our focus and patiently search for the right pieces, we would eventually get into a groove and exceptionally beautiful pictures of landscapes, homes, horses, kittens, cities, etc. would start to emerge. Once we were in that groove, we just couldn’t stop. We were dialed in. We looked forward to the next piece. We were devoted to the process that would unveil the picture we were working diligently towards. If we couldn’t find the right piece though, we scoured until we found it and we certainly didn’t just say “Forget This!” throw the puzzle in the box and then start a new one.
So why exactly am I taking you back to Queens, NY in the early 80’s? Well, I relate the process of committing to improved fitness and nutrition to the same process my grandma and I immersed ourselves in when we were “doing our puzzles”. With patience, focus & persistence, our beautiful picture would emerge despite some times of slowed momentum.
We reach defining moments in our lives that encourage us to initiate a healthier, fitter, stronger, sexier, leaner (whatever you prefer) lifestyle. We engage and we are enthusiastic. A few days pass, a couple of weeks roll by and then we jump on your scale because we feel fabulous! We say to ourselves, “I MUST have lost weight!” We step on the scale and that fabulous feeling is suddenly pulverized as we peek below to see that “the scale didn’t budge.” That moment rears the head of immediate doubt in our progress and suddenly the ketchup & sesame seed oil diet your friend just started might be worth a try. (That was sarcasm – there is no such thing, so do not bother trying it.) At this point after only a short time of being invested in our wanted healthier lifestyle, something new, faster, easier, “proven,” is what we want to hop onto next.
Choosing and living a healthier lifestyle is a process and it has nothing to do with FAST. Lifetimes are not meant to go fast. This process takes will, time, energy, commitment, educated choices, awareness, preparation, TRUTH, loyalty to oneself, accountability, self-control, guidance, & sometimes a bit of sweat and with these, in place, we will reap a multitude of physical benefits and even more importantly, in my personal opinion, our personal growth will evolve on the daily!
Immerse yourself lovingly & diligently into your process and when slower momentum is encountered it is not a signal to jump ship to the next “best” thing, instead use it as a signal to remain patient, focused, and persistent.
Each moment is a puzzle piece
Each moment of our life is a puzzle piece and every moment we are building on the last. There are times when finding the next piece may take a little longer than the last, but we will find it. It’s just a matter of not destroying our progress thus far with one swipe just because our process requires some diligent effort sometimes.
Our beautiful picture WILL emerge and when it does, then we can move on to our next puzzle.
Empower. Embrace. Evolve. Emerge.
Gina