During the month of February, I was unable to keep up my exercise routine. I wanted to, but my body wouldn’t allow it. I had the flu and it hit me hard.
I’m starting to get back into the swing of things. I’m not at the place I was before. My body still protests. Yet I refuse to give up. I needed to remember what I wanted and most importantly why.
Being a visual person, I decided to raid my kitchen, grabbing 30 pounds worth of food and placing it on the countertop. Thirty pounds to reflect on the amount of weight I wanted to lose.
Now visualize yourself eating 30 pounds of food, opening and closing your mouth on each fork hold, in ONE sitting. You would be set to burst, wouldn’t you?
Our bodies just aren’t equipped to eat that much food in one sitting. If we did, we would get sick.
Yet we condition ourselves to do just that … slowly. By doing it over time, our bodies don’t balk. The expansion is gradual, causing no pain or discomfort. It’s like the frog that’s put in a pan of water. He will sit there complacently while the fire heats the water gradually, not aware that his body and heart will eventually give up. By the time the frog realizes what is taking place, it’s too late. He does not have the strength to jump out of the pan.
Thankfully, we are not frogs. We can get up at anytime. We may not move as quickly as we once did, we may not even be able to do a quarter of what we once could do, but we can change. The importance is in the starting.
After having been sick, I don’t move as quickly on the treadmill. I can’t keep up with the other participants in the classes, but that’s ok. I started. I returned. I won’t let my body or heart give up on me. I won’t be a frog…and neither will you.
–Migdalia Rivera
