Friday, April 19, 2013

I Believe in YOU!

I was thinking about this the other day while I was at the gym on the bike and I looked over and saw a very overweight gal on the treadmill who had easily over 100 pounds to lose. First off, I was so proud to see her there in the first place. A lot of times I think larger people are scared away from the gym because of all the supposed "skinny", "healthy" people they might find there. (The fact of the matter is, there are people of ALL shapes and sizes at the gym. I was once the one with 100+ pounds to lose and I was there.) As I watched her walk on her machine at a rather slow pace, I could tell that she was tired, out of breath, and not altogether very comfortable. From where I was sitting, it didn't even look like she had water. I had no idea how long she had been on her machine as I didn't notice her until about 10-15 minutes into my own workout. I can just remember seeing her and thinking, "Bless her for being here. She can do this! I know she can!" I kinda got absorbed in my own workout after that and lost track of her, but in some ways I wish I would have gotten off my bike and told her I believed in her. Now if you know me, that would have been a little (okay, a lot) out of my comfort zone. I couldn't help but think of her again as I was driving home. How much it would have meant to me when I was starting out, if someone (a total stranger) would have come over and told me they believed in me and they new I could do what I thought at the time was nearly impossible. I struggled so much with believing in myself along the way, that maybe something like that would have been just what I had needed from the start.
Why am I sharing this with you?  Because I believe in you too! When you've lived life a certain way for so long and discover a way to overcome it, you want to share it with others. It becomes contagious. It's amazing to think that I care and believe in my readers as much as I care and believe in the people that I actually know who are working on making healthy lifestyle choices. I've gotten to know many of you through either email or comments on my blog, and I just want you to know that I sincerely care about your struggles and the journey you're on to a better you. I get excited when I get an email that tells me about your first 5K. I get excited to know you've gone a week without a Coke. It's exciting to follow your blog and see the change in you. I know it's not easy as I've been there myself, but it sure makes my heart happy to see you changing. It makes me want to say, "YES! I love it!" Occasionally, I even get a little teary when I read about these things. Why? Because I believe in YOU!  
And even though I'm in training for a run and only at the gym for minimal amounts of time for the next 12 weeks, I'm hoping I run into my treadmill friend again. Only this time, I'm going to make sure she knows I believe in her!


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4 comments:

  1. Paige that is so sweet! It's hard because you don't want to single the person out but you want them to know its possible in case they get overwhelmed!! I'll be hitting you up for some tips just signed up for my first full marathon in September! Is it werid that I'm not scared, that I know I can do this, even though I'm not fast or still have weight to lose.

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  2. This is really nice, I just started a blog to monitor my problem i am having with food and wanted to give up but this has inspired me to go on!

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  3. I love this! I, too, really enjoy getting e-mails about the things that may not seem super important, but they are HUGE accomplishments to my readers (like going a week without a binge, or running for one minute straight, or avoiding the drive-thru on the way home from work). It thrills me to read those things!

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  4. I am that gal. Not that exact gal, but I was on the treadmill this morning and have 100+ pounds to lose. I'm always nervous going to the gym where everyone is fit and thin. Then I remember that I NEED to be there. Thank you for this post.

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