Measuring Success....

For some people, measuring success on the scale and letting the numbers dictate how 'well' or how 'poorly' you're doing, is a "no-no". For others, living and dying by what the scale says is the only way they can keep themselves focused and determined to keep going. So, how is it possible that people who are trying to accomplish the same thing (i.e. losing weight) could have such different views and beliefs and practices when it comes to actually doing it? The answer is very simple, and a wonderfully brilliant, young woman from the YT WLC said it best herself, 'what might motivate one, might stifle another...' When I read that, I sat back and said, 'Wow....couldn't have said it better myself."


The fact of the matter is that we're all different. This is an obvious fact, so its curious to me how some people don't fully understand this idea. For some people, seeing that number on the scale continuously going down is just more and more and more motivation to keep exercising, keep eating healthy foods, keep doing all these good and wonderful things for their bodies. And when they see the number go up, its like DOUBLE motivation to push it a little harder and kick it into high gear. <--Whats wrong with that?--) Still, other people choose to look at their weight loss in different ways. Here in the WLC we like to call them NSV's (NonScaleVictories). For those of us who are fans of NSV's, we prefer to measure our success regarding weight loss by the size pants we can now fit into, or by the measurement of inches around our various body parts (i.e. thighs, waist, hips, arms, etc.) <---Again I ask, whats wrong with that?


The point I'm making here is very simple: There is no right or wrong way to measure your success with weight loss. If hopping on the scale everyday does something for you to keep you focused...then so be it. If taking your measurements around your waist and hips is how you measure your success, then that's fine too! If how many miles you can run without stopping is what you use to determine how far you've come, then great! Different strokes for different folks!


I feel like all too often people, in general, get so set and fixated in our own ideas or beliefs that we become deaf, dumb and blind to the opinions, thoughts and beliefs of others. We should all learn a wonderful tool in life, called: TOLERANCE. I can give you a perfect example: I have two very close best friends. We all talk on a regular basis and have been close since junior year of high school. To illustrate my point, one of us is very Liberal in belief, one of us is very Conservative, and the other is slightly on the fence between the two. People often ask us, "How do you three get along so well? You all hold such different beliefs on almost EVERYTHING!!!" Our answer is, 'We love each other. We wholeheartedly accept each other. We respect each other. And we don't pressure each other." Does the previous sentence not describe the word TOLERANCE to a tee?


We must always remember that not everyone is going to agree with us. Not everyone in this world will see eye-to-eye on many things. Not everyone in this world will even like each other. But we CAN tolerate each other. We can entertain and consider the beliefs, opinions, thoughts, practices, of others. Maybe the biggest conflicts in our world today would be resolved if we could all just realize that tolerance is key. Alas, we are all human...and there's always going to be a few "bad seeds" out there.


Consider this: "Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to ones own beliefs. Rather, it condemns the oppression or persecution of others." John F. Kennedy