The Best Things: Inspiration

When I first started seriously thinking about making changes in my life, I started looking at people in my life who were making changes that were like the ones I wanted to make. I know there are people who will understand this more than others, but as an obese person or as in my case, a morbidly obese person, making changes in your life can seem so overwhelming that there is no way you could possibly do it. There is so far to go that the journey seems almost impossible. It can seem too overwhelming. To keep from being overwhelmed, I started looking for inspiration and found it right in front of me. Hopefully neither of these people will be upset with me for using them in this blog. I didn't ask in advance so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My cousin, Michelle, had been posting on facebook about her success with Weight Watchers and how she was walking and transitioning to running. My dear friend, Erin, had made a huge change in her life and I could see how great she looked and felt through all of the changes she had made. These two amazingly strong women helped give me inspiration to start my own journey. Reading their successes and accomplishments made me want to have success too! I wanted to feel that pride and happiness that came from doing such great things! I don't know that I've ever said thank you to either of them or really told them how much of a difference their example made for me. Hopefully they both know it or at least realize it now! :)

So I started, small and simple and I had my own successes. I made progress and started to see the changes. I posted everything on Facebook for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it gave me a place to share things and keep myself accountable. I do better when I know other people can see. But in the back of my mind, I think I realized that Michelle and Erin's posts on Facebook made a difference for me. In my own little way and arrogance, I think I hoped maybe I could do the same for someone else, but that really wasn't my main motivation.

As my journey has continued and my successes continue to grow and I continue to shrink (hehehe), I've had several people tell me that I have inspired them. I can't even say how much that means to me. To be able to be an inspiration to anyone is something I never thought I would be able to do. I always figured I'd be that horrible warning, only kind of joking. It means so much to be able to do for someone else what my inspirations did for me. It's like a cycle is being kept in motion. I have a hard time talking about this part of my inspiration post because I don't want to sound vain or self-important. I just feel so grateful to be able to help anyone else make a change in their lives, because making this change in mine has been the best thing I've done for myself.

So inspiration, both received and given, is definitely one of the best things about being on this journey.