According to these rules, everyone has the right to step up on the scales, then step off and loudly complain, “These scales are off—way off.”
The second rule of the gym says if you’re present when anyone complains, you have to immediately agree with them. The morale of the entire gym depends on the keeping of these two rules.
To face the fact that we’re overweight is just too hard for most of us. The fact that we’re working out and STILL not losing weight is harder to bear.
So, we do what we usually do in these situations. We lie to ourselves.
Our culture thrives on self-deception. Few of us recognize or tell the truth about ourselves. We count on our friends to reinforce our self-delusions.
But there comes a point where self-deception doesn’t work anymore. We face a moment when the price of propping up our self-delusion becomes self-destructive.
And the only antidote is rock-hard, steel-eyed, refusing-to-flinch honesty. It’s the first step.
Things are NOT going to get better by themselves. Something has to change.
And yes, you do matter. You matter a lot. To waste the life you’ve been given is a crime against the universe.
And yes, being honest with yourself is where the change begins, but let’s not confuse the pain of honesty with the pain of change.
True change takes action. Intention isn’t action. For something to be different, we have to DO something different.
Honesty is the first step, but it’s just that—a first step.
The change comes only when we act.
