I'm slightly amazed at how long it's been since I last posted. I'm not terribly surprised that I had slacked off some, but to realize it's been three months (to the day) since I last posted, means I'm slacking off too much.
I've had a busy summer, since I've posted last, I've spoken at camp for two weeks, helped out with two different vacation Bible schools, and moved into my own apartment. It has been busy, but some things have recently gotten me asking if I'm staying comfortable in doing things that come easy to me.
Just this morning I watched the movie "Soul Surfer" and I loved it. This movie was actually so well done, it was hard to watch what with the amputation of my foot being less than a year ago. For those of you who don't know the story, it's about Bethany Hamilton, a young girl from Hawaii who had her left arm bitten off by a shark. This movie was based on a true story, and I don't know how much of the movie was actually true, but that doesn't really take away how inspiring it was and how I felt it pretty accurately, mirrored my own feelings dealing with the amputation of my right foot.
By the end of the movie, Bethany was back up and surfing, and while the movie showed some struggles that she had in getting back up on a surf board, I imagine it was probably a bit harder that the movie portrayed. One of the first questions Bethany asked was when she could get back to surfing, and while her confidence wavered for a bit she did get back up on a surf board and eventually...what, you think I'm going to tell you the ending? Go see the movie yourself!
But this got me thinking...am I using my prosthetic foot as a crutch? Has it become, in a way, convenient to have this foot? Does it give me the easy way out of doing things I don't want to do?
Another thing that happened to me happened about a month ago, I was speaking at camp on the book "Do Hard Things" by Brett and Alex Harris, a great book that I recommend. While I was there, I was sharing...let's face it, i was complaining to a friend about how it was hard to lose weight because I couldn't move around much. That's not true, I can move around just fine, I just need to remember to keep my stump in mind so I don't overdo it too much, and I need to wear my boot if I move too much.
I'm not missing the irony there...
As I'm speaking to a group of about thirty teenagers about doing hard things, I'm complaining about something that's hard. This friend challenged me to keep at it, that is is possible, and she then challenged me to then lose ten pounds in about a month, and I have, at last weigh in, I was at 9.8 pounds down from where I was at that time, and since my next weigh in day is this Saturday, I expect to have passed that ten pounds by then.
So here's my challenge to myself, and I'm putting it out there in cyberspace for all to see...I will lose 36 more pounds by Christmas. Christmas is just over four months away, and I hope to have lost more, but with just over 18 weeks to go, and with Weight Watchers telling me that .5-2 pounds is a good weight loss goal I'm going with the 2 pounds a week for 18 weeks = 36 pounds.
Will you help keep me focused? I know I'll have to be really good with Thanksgiving in there, but I hope to celebrate my birthday (Dec. 26) with some new, smaller clothes.
I'd love it if people joined me in this, not necessarily with losing 36 pounds, but pick a weight loss goal for Christmas and meet it.
God bless you
