“Ugh. These jeans look awful,” she said as she gingerly stepped out of her dressing room. “Don’t they make me look…fat?” I shrugged, stared, and then gave her the girlfriend nod of disapproval. “I need to lose some weight. This is getting out of hand!” I flinched when the door slammed, rocking the neighboring doors.
The entire afternoon was filled with more nods of disapproval and dressing rooms. By the end of our non-shopping shopping trip, I had bags full of goodies and Rebecca had a pair of shiny new earrings. “Those are one size fits all,” I teased her as we passed by the ever inviting mall coffee shop.
She threw me a weak smile, and continued to complain about her weight. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I didn’t realize I was getting bigger. I want to cry right now…you know? What am I going to do, Jess?!” Before I could answer, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and warm pastries tugged on her sleeve. She grabbed my arm and made a beeline toward the shop. “I need a cookie or cake or something!”
I twisted the top off of my ‘more expensive than it should be’ bottled water and took a drink as Rebecca rearranged her purse, iced coffee—with whip of course—and mini bag holding her one size fits all earrings in one hand so she could inhale the cake she held in the other. “What am I going to do, Jess? I’ve got to get this weight off of me by the summer,” she said between biting and chewing her colossal sized piece of pound cake.
I stopped next to a trash can and put my bags down. “If you don’t like something,” I started as I reached out and gently grabbed the cake, “then change it.” And with that I dropped the cake in the trash. “See how easy that was?” I picked up my bags and sauntered off to the next store.
So often we complain about what we don’t like. I am not innocent—I do it too, but my overall attitude about things is that if you don’t like something then change it. Easier said than done, yes, but it does not mean it can’t be done.
The first part in solving any problem is making up your mind to change it. It will most likely be a difficult journey (depending on the problem of course) but there are a million and one ways to get support for that part of it. Our biggest issue is stepping out or changing direction or letting go. Weight, relationships, hair, clothes, jobs, homes…anything can be changed if we just do it. Whine about it for a moment, sure. Cry about it for a day or two, ok. Live in it? Wallow in it? Toss it back and forth over and over? No thanks. Sometimes we regret the decisions we make. Sometimes what we decide is not what is best for us, but instead of worrying about what will happen--just do. Make a plan and do it. If a bump comes along then change it up—no one ever said you can’t go back to what you know if your plan doesn’t work out.
I have seen and heard stories over these past few weeks about people in all types of situations from money, to job, to weight and the solution to them all is to shrug it off and change it. Allowing your problems to suck the life out of you isn’t really living life at all. It’s just putting extra stress and strain on your back. Who wants to live like that? I sure as hell don’t. Get it together, dry your tears, throw out your complaints, and change it. You have the power to start in the positive direction—God, friends, and family can help you do the rest.
The Runner
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