Giving & Gaining

At the end of the day, this trek that we’re on is a lonely one. It’s just you and that smiling chubby goofball in the mirror, and the days can get kind of long and tedious if you’re staying on plan (and long and irksome if you find yourself straying).

I’m getting a little depressing, I know. Most of you just wander over here to get your daily yuk-yuk. Okay, here’s a stupid joke break: A flasher walks by two old ladies sitting on a park bench and exposes himself. One of the old ladies has a stroke… the other one can’t quite reach it.

Alrighty then… back to the topic at hand: this can be a lonely road. Even your best efforts may not yield the results you want when you want them. Friends and family may not always understand the why’s and wherefore’s of what you’re attempting to do. They may not always provide the feedback and emotional support you want, you need, you absolutely crave.

I’m going to pass on some more good advice that you already know: be sure and help others along the way.

Pay compliments. You know how much they mean to you, those honest, out-of-the-blue positive sentiments. If you notice that someone you run across has lost weight, pipe up and say something. I promise you that there’re very few people who will take a sincere “You look great…are you losing weight?” comment in the wrong way. Say it… you’ll make two people feel better.

Leave comments on blogs. You know they make your day. Make everybody else’s day, too. For a while there, I was posting twice a day (at least). After recognizing that those little leave-behinds folks were cramming beneath my posts were doing such a terrific job of lifting my spirits, I decided that that second post time would be better spent bouncing around and leaving comments for as many others as I could. Leave comments… you can start right here, right now if you’d like.

Give good advice. You’ve learned plenty on this twisty journey. Pass on what’s worked, tell others what hasn’t. Share tips on effective exercises or recipes for kick-ass chili. Let the world know what experience has taught you. Don’t take it for granted that everyone already knows what you know. For one thing, they don’t. For another, it never hurts to get a refresher. No one is obliged to take your advice, but having it out there gives others new ideas and new tools for their own weight loss efforts.

Kick a little ass. Tough love is almost a taboo subject in our little weight loss blogging world. I wish it wasn’t, because I see so many people that are crying out for it. They’re making a half-hearted efforts and whining about how little scale-love they got this week, p*ssing around when they should be pushing forward. If you’ve got the heart and the intestinal fortitude, administer a little tough love when the situation warrants.

All this giving and giving and giving can be draining and time-consuming, but it’s what makes this weight loss blogging adventure so effective, so invigorating, so essential. Anybody that's been on this path for any length of time knows that not every victory is on the scale.

Give, and keep giving because what you’ll get back in return is simply extraordinary.