Can we rise above our own perspective?
It’s a tough thing to look at oneself objectively and to see what is really going on with our lives. Most of the time we just see things through our own eyes, and try to make sense of it all.
But I guess my hope is that by watching our documentary, many people will be able to take a step outside of their bodies, and understand how they themselves think, rationalize, make good decisions…and bad ones. This is something that we all can do I believe, as long as we don’t go crazy doing it!
Can we see through our own rationalizations (some might call these excuses) and find ways around them? Often it is our ability to really analyze what we are saying to ourselves, that determines how well we can break through old thought patterns and create profound change in our lives. Is it really “impossible” for us eat breakfast even if we’re not hungry in the morning? Do our schedules really not allow us to exercise 20 minutes every day? Is it true that we just weren’t born as “runners”?
Most of the time, we have found, these are self-imposed limitations which become self-fulfilling prophecies. So the challenge then becomes, for each of us to evaluate what we really want out of our lives, whether it’s money, wealth, companionship…ANYTHING - and learn to identify the obstacles we place in front of ourselves. Because these obstacles, no matter how real they may seem, are usually only obstacles in our own minds. AND - they stand between where we are now, and were we dream to be in life.
Sometimes we wait, expecting that all the stars come into alignment, and it finally becomes “the time”. This “wait” can often be years, decades even. We enjoy the short term decisions we make to eat poorly, and abstain from exercise, but we fail to see how much richer our lives are when we feel good about ourselves. This is the challenge…to get people to understand how much the payoff is worth. Every time, with every person, the payoff far outweighs the effort - in hindsight. It is before and during when we question it all so much.
This article reminds me of an entry I wrote in my journal. “Do it for the me of tomorrow.” Here’s and excerpt from that journal:
When I see the words “hard work” it reminds me of something I tell myself when I’m struggling during a workout. “You won’t remember the pain, but you’ll see the results.” When I reflect back on my workouts I remember them being hard and having to push myself beyond my limits. I remember that it was hard but I don’t really feel the pain. After hundreds of workouts I’ll never remember each individual one and how hard it was on me. Think of it like when you’ve had too much to drink and you’re memory is a little hazy. You could have been a blubbering fool the night before and you still remember the night fondly. What remains in our memory is not always reality. By recognizing that fact I push myself harder and farther than I think I can go. Do some extra work for the me of tomorrow. He won’t remember it like I did but he’ll see all of the benefits of what I did for him.
Thank you Robb. Nice job on your own weight loss story! What you say is so true…often people just don’t realize that what they think are their limits, aren’t even close. We are all capable of things far greater than we can imagine. I have to remind myself this every day at the gym too. Have a great weekend!