You're Unstoppable

         Last week I was on vacation. I love being on vacation because I get to wake up when my eyes pop open. I get to work out when I want to not squeezing it in at the crack of dawn or after a long day at work. I get to spend time with my family at ease, just laughing at something on television or a funny story. I get to ponder explaining plural marriage to my eleven year old son who was reading ( yes sitting and reading) an article in an old National Geographic article. These are things I enjoy doing with time to spare. Seriously, I am not sure what was more moving; the fact that I was having an adult conversation with Jake that was not about sports or Spongebob or the fact that he was leisurely reading an article in a magazine.

Jake with his swollen cheek and game ball

         Last Wednesday was Jake's first Little League game of the season. Jake has graduated to the Minors league and had to leave his old team behind and bond with a new one. His new coach is great and very professional. His team the Co-Op City Cyclones worked very hard to be ready to play well. My old man took him to all his practices and said he has improved since last year. So my older son Josh, my hubby and I attended the first game holding our breathe hoping that Jake would fit in and play well. We were crossing our fingers and our toes that it would not rain ( the weatherman had been predicting rain all week). I chanted my own spells (yes I'm a Harry Potter geek) like calling on all my ancestors to put in a good word with Mother Nature or chanting the name of the team ( Cyclones, Cyclones, Cyclones) that they would win. But there was one thing I didn't chant for and when it was Jake's turn up to bat, the ball struck him in the face. I ran over to the first aid station where the coaches where holding up fingers and asking him how he felt. I overheard one of the coaches say that if Jake does not come back in, the team would forfeit. So despite my instinct to pick him up and take him home and tuck him in the bed, I wiped his tears , made sure he was fine and encouraged him to go back into the game. He did. And his team members signed the team ball and gave it to him.
          Today I was going out for a jog but when I got downstairs, fat rain drops were falling and I was upset because I really wanted to go for a jog and I was about to go back to my apartment. I was talking to our lobby attendant, Miss Bernice, and she suggested to me that I walk around the building so that I could duck for cover if it started pouring. So I started to do laps around the building and was bored by the second lap and convinced myself that I could go to the track and run until it starts raining. I ran in between the raindrops for 2.4 miles. I was so happy that I got to run. I thanked Miss Bernice for inspiring me when I really need it.
            I say all this to say that I love my crazy WW leader Melanie. She is an avid marathon runner, and an actress. She has the most fun WW meeting that we call Tuesday Night Happy Hour. But she will not be conducting those meetings anymore which will forever change the dynamic of the meeting. I am sad about that . I will follow her to another meeting time/location to get my Melanie fix. This is what I mean about finding yourself the right meeting and the right leader who can inspire you. There are a whole lot of people out there who want to criticize you, insult you, and shame you. When you are on a weight loss journey, you are already at your lowest point in your life trying to climb out. That's what Melanie and the TNHH did for me. For one about an hour a week I was with people who are struggling no matter what their goal is, to lose weight. And some of us are surrounded by people who do not have the same struggle. But Melanie makes my "go to meeting" a special place. She created a "Secret Garden" ( yes I am dating myself) that was a haven for us to encourage and befriend one another and cheer each other on goals no matter how big or how small. Total lightning in a bottle.

            Melanie even convinced me, who is still very self conscious about being an overweight woman running, to enter actual organized races. I didn't do that as a child but I did it on dare from her. And even though I feel like puking my guts on race day, I still register and run them. So thanks Melanie for inspiring me.