Fat 2 Fit: Lessons Not Learned

It's easy to ignore what life tries to teach us about taking better care of ourselves. And it's amazing how much better you can feel when you start paying attention.

By: Carole Carson | Source: AARP.org | 2008-10-28

Lessons not learned have a habit of presenting themselves again and again—at the worst possible times.

I like to joke that God puts a pebble in my path to get my attention. If that doesn't work, I get a rock to trip over. If that doesn't alert me, a boulder soon appears headed in my direction. Only after I've been run over do I ask myself the question: What lesson am I supposed to be learning here?

Nowhere is that truer than in my efforts to get fit, lose weight, and live healthfully. For roughly 40 years, I ignored every obstacle—large and small—in my path. Gallbladder surgery, a torn hamstring, clothes that fit too snugly, frequent hospitalizations, chest pain, and a bad fall—all of these lessons went unlearned.

When I weighed in at 183 pounds, the bathroom scale broke. For some reason God only knows, I "listened up" and decided to make profound, life-altering changes. Nearly six years have passed. Yet from that moment forward, I've focused on getting fit and staying fit. Even so, I must confess that occasionally I take a big header.

When that happens, I reassure myself that I am still on the journey. At no point can success—or failure—be declared; there is no "there" there. It is always and only a matter of putting one foot ahead of the other and looking to see what lessons I can glean when I stumble and fall.