The Easy Button

There are few things I'm scared to talk about with folks. I love swapping a good grandchild story, or sharing really bad jokes...sometimes I even enjoy a rousing discussion of an economics class syllabus, or a healthy back-and-forth about the subtle differences in brands of house paint.

Still, I realize that there are some things that you're NOT supposed to talk about. Ever.

Like politics...or religion...or The Donald's hair.

People have very strong feelings on these things. Whether they want to or not. Countries have been known to war over these very issues.

And there is a topic that everyone has an opinion about...good or bad...right or wrong...and it is WEIGHT.

I hate to talk about it. I would much rather have to endure Chinese water torture or a Barbra Streisand concert....than talk about weight. Loss or gain. Diets, plans, food guides, point systems...these things can, within seconds, reduce me (no pun intended!) to tears.

My desire is not to just see the outside of someone. To judge their abilities based on the way they look....because I know....I KNOW...that we don't look the same forever...we are constantly changing.

Just like the information on weight constantly changes. And do you know why?

I think it's because we want an Easy Button.

We want things to change easily...without much effort on our part. We don't like the situation we're in...we hate our boss, or our couch, or our size...and we wish these irritable items would just 'go away'...like Kevin in Home Alone...sometimes we want to make our family just....disappear.

It is frustrating, though...when things do not happen overnight. When we wake up the next morning and it's the SAME! And sometimes, we scream inside. Because the Easy Button didn't work this time...

About two weeks ago, I decided that I need to do something (besides slapping an Easy Button) about my weight. And I've been keeping track of the good choices I've made...in an effort to encourage myself to keep going. To stay on track. I even had someone on Sunday ask if I'd been losing weight! I was feeling pretty good about the way things were going...feeling good about myself...

and last night I visited a nursing friend of mine who informed me that she too, is trying to lose weight and she'd just purchased a new scale...would I like to use it?

Since I felt pretty confident about myself...I thought, "no big deal"...and I assuredly stepped over to the scale and weighed in.

And in the blink of an eye...in one small second of time...everything changed.

When I saw the number on the scale...and really considered the task at hand...I got very frightened.

All of the encouraging thoughts I'd had went right out the window just then.

Because I realized...that this will NOT be an easy thing to do. It WILL require work. Diligence. Determination. Effort. Sacrifice.

So...what to do? Give up? Grit my teeth and dig in? Ignore what truth I saw there on the scale and pretend that everything is 'okay'? Listen to the lies that tell me that even the small things I've done don't matter...because that number is SO big?

My friends, what do you do?

Sometimes, the truth can hurt us. Especially when it means changing something...without an Easy Button. It is not pleasant. It is not...easy.

Politics, though they seem to be ever-changing...are basically the same as they ever were.

Religion, while one is in the spotlight more than the other at times...doesn't really change.

The Donald's hair...sadly...will never change. I promise you that.

But you, my friend, CAN change. You can.

You just can't do it all on your own.

Lucky for you, there's Someone who can help...

Everyone Needs a Kennel to Call Their Very Own

I hate to say it, but yes...it's true.

I yelled at the kids the other day.

Oh....don't judge me. I had my reasons...all perfectly reasonable ones.

It was Spring Break. They were being what the French refer to as TRES' annoying. And I wanted quiet.

So I hollered.

(and yes, I see the irony. Thanks for pointing that out!)

Speedy, our dog, took his big ol' dog be-hind off the couch and quickly trotted it into our bedroom.

Into his kennel.

That's where he goes when he wants to feel safe. Loud noises generally make him move in that direction...or he'll go there when he wants to protect something. Like his Chewie.

It got me to thinking.

Do you have a kennel?

Not necessarily for your dog...altho I highly recommend one.

Where do you go when you feel threatened? Do you have a safe place to lie down in?

See, sometimes...sometimes we need to get away from the loud voices. Sometimes we need to go where we can breathe easier. Or regroup. Sometimes we need to go to a place where the worries, the pressures, the stresses of the world don't seem so pressing.

For some of us, this place is called Hawaii.

:)

For the rest of us poorer slobs, well....we need to locate somewhere closer...

and you know, I'm not necessarily talking about an actual place...so much as I am about boundaries. About keeping things balanced, maybe.

We are hit with a lot of stuff in the course of a day. A lot of 'mom's hollering at the kids in the house'.

What do you do then? Do you join in the yelling? Do you run out of the house?

Do you go to your kennel?

The more I think about it, perhaps this isn't the best analogy I could come up with. But what I do see when I watch Speedy is kind of interesting. He doesn't stay in the kennel for very long during those times. And he seems to be pretty well behaved for the most part. Perhaps he recognizes when a 'fight' isn't something he needs to be involved in...

I dunno...it's just making me think today...