Stay Where You Are

Most people don't really want to take the steps to make changes in thier lives. Most of the time, they just want to complain about thier situation and obtain pity from those in similar situations.

First let me clear the air here and say that I am certainly not excluding myself in this group. I am guilty of the same thing in certain areas of my life. After three years of sobriety, I still hold out hope that someday "they" will make a pill to make me a normal drinker so that I will be able to have a glass of wine with dinner.

I ran a daily email thread for nearly a year. It was focused on nutrition and exercise. I started it with a small group of relatives and it eventually branched out to some co-workers and thier sisters, etc.

Everyday I would start it out by talking about what exercise I had done or planned to do that day, what the day's attack plan looked like for getting my fruits and veggies in and what was stopping me from sticking to it. The thread was designed to be a support for us ladies that were trying to stay healthy and even loose a few pounds.

For the first few months there was alot of conversation and support. When someone would have a day "Off Plan" the others would rally around her. It seemed everyone was glad for the support, the tips and suggestions.

Creating and sticking to an exercise program is hard. It took years for me to find a type of exercise that didn't seem like torture. Learning how to eat food that is good for you is hard as well. It takes time and an adventurous spirit to try new vegetables and fruits and cook from scratch rather than opening up a box or can.

That's where I lost them. It wasn't a quick fix. There was no pill, no plan, no "easy way to shed pounds and inches". Just them and the changes that needed to be made. Participation alone was not enough to see a result.

So time marched on and I continued to start the thread every weekday the same way. I tried to throw in links to interesting material on exercise and nutrition. I attached nutritious recipes and reviews, but the responses dwindled and then stopped. After about a month of silence, I just quit.

I was dissapointed and a bit confused. I didn't understand why no one wanted to talk to me anymore. And then I realized that they just didn't want to DO what was necessary to make positive changes. Having me start the thread everyday with "Wow, I sure love getting my miles in at 5:30 am!" stopped being an inspiration and started being a reminder of how they really wanted a pill or shake to make them thin, not anything resembling sweat or sacrifice.

I just think I should have been a better moderator somehow. That I should have played up all the times I skipped my workout or slipped up on my diet better. That I should have sent personal emails once in a while or made more phone calls to see how people were doing. I still feel I failed them, somehow.

Comments

  1. I think you did more than what anyone expected of you. But people have to be ready to make the change and really get serious about it. So much as you want to kick them in the butt and get them moving, it just won't work.
    As you said, it's far easier to sit back and whine about your situation than to get up and do something about it.
    Your daily email was the kick in the butt that I needed, but some people need a lot more than that:-)

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