Losing weight is really hard. Im not making excuses. Im not blaming genes or medication. Im merely listing weight loss as a valid struggle that people deal with. One day, as we watched a weight loss show on TV, a friend, who has always been thin, asked me sincerely why it was so hard for people to keep weight off. It was something that wasnt in her universe, something that she never had to think about, whereas I owned a food scale and poked at diet apps and watched these shows for tips and moral support. This friend, like everyone on this planet, had her own struggles. And so I pointed out that I dont have all of her struggles, so why does she? After that she nodded and we went back to the show. It was easy enough to understand, but for so many others, it really isnt. When youre depressed, people say, Why dont you go sit in the sun? Why dont you make an EFFORT? When youre anxious, people recommend vitamins, and strangely, also more sun. If you want to quit smoking, just quit. Want to battle an addiction, just flush it down the sink and delete the contacts from your phone. When youre underweight, eat a cheeseburger. When youre overweight, go on a diet. As a society we throw around these simple one-sentence solutions that look great on paper, but overlook the complexity of what it is to be a human being. Unfortunately, when you struggle with your weight, everyone in the world can see it. It ceases to be your private struggle and becomes an object of public scrutiny. People will have an opinion about your clothes, your waist, your order in a restaurant. And yet these same people carry their own demons that are just as difficult to kick, and it never occurs to them that this is the same sort of battle. We are all a work in progress. Solve one set of obstacles and another set appears from the haze. This is called being a human. And anyone who has battled any struggle, from smoking to depression to speeding to being attracted to unhealthy relationships to, yes, diet, knows that a substantial part of the battle is learning to accept oneself. Learning to love oneself. The problem with this is that we see ourselves from the inside. We know all of our flaws, and on our best day, when we have impressed those around us and when we seem to have it together and our shoes match our handbag, we still know what goes on inside of us. We know what we are facing when were alone again. So when you see a person who has an obvious struggle, something that can be seen on the outside, trust that that person can see it on the inside, just as you can see your own struggles too. And keep that in mind every day of your life.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 01:53:25 +0000
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