Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Burn, Baby, Burn

“Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. 
You must set yourself on fire.”

–Arnold H. Glasow 
                  


A spark.

You think that’s all it would take… all it require to ignite your weight-loss efforts and start them raging into an out-of-control inferno.

But you stutter and sputter and eventually fizzle out before it gets going good. It just can’t catch…

There’s no spark, no mojo, no magic.

Every day, you wake up and that same flawed face is staring back at you, reminding you of everything that you haven’t managed to get done, how despite your best intentions and your everything-you’ve-got effort, you still can’t generate any real heat with what you’re doing.

I've lost count of how many times I started back at Square One, how many Mondays I woke up and said “This is finally it!” only to trip and fall almost before I got out of the starting gate. Even my successes were flawed, because my losses didn’t stick… didn’t even come close to sticking. I’d hit my goal weight like it was a trampoline and then shoot back up into the stratosphere.

The takeaway? Success isn’t a finish line and it sure as hell isn’t a number a scale.

It’s a flame that you tend to, that you feed, nourish and protect.

You start small because that’s the way every fire begins.

You just have to keep making sparks.

Because that’s the only thing that ever turns into a wildfire.


16 comments:

  1. I needed this.
    Im off to light my writing on fire.

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  2. So true. So good. So right.

    I'm working on my sparks. I posted a loss today (3 lbs) and I haven't done that in WEEKS. And it's just a little spark, but I'm blowing on it.

    Well. That sounded right in my head.

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  3. Wow Jack, this is so WISE. I needed to hear this right now!

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  4. But I don't wanna feed it right now! :(

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  5. Beauty quote. You don't need a spark, you need a FIRE!

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  6. loved this analogy! blowing on my lil spark over here too, huff puff...huff puff!

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  7. Uh, no. I'm tamping sparks out at the moment. It's too damn dry, the wind is blowing at a constant 20 mph and one spark will set the entire county on fire.

    I do, however, have my trusty Bic lighter for later.

    Oh wait. Not a REAL fire, right? *sigh* I need some coffee.

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  8. Beautiful words on a day that I really needed them!

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  9. Wow that is right in line with the point of my post today!

    One day at a time. Baby steps. Small successes.

    THAT is what gets you going!

    Nice post :)

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  10. Incredibly insightful and an amazing way to look at it. Plus, I like fire, so win-win.

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  11. I needed to hear this too! Uggggg....

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  12. now that is just what I needed, applies to weight loss and training.

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  13. GREAT! I have always said that I am a work in progress always... I never let myself think "I am there" because I think this may lead to that slippery slope...

    Good post Jack!

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  14. all this fire and stick imagery has me craving Girl Scout cookies.

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  15. yep....now it's a fire I tend. Not a wildfire...more of a steady consistent putting on of new wood. Don't let it go out.

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  16. I have a shirt that says something like, "It takes a spark to grow a mighty flame." True, but anyone who has ever built a fire know that it takes more than a spark. You have to watch it and care for it, pay attention, be vigilant. Same thing.

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