Determined To Succeed

Day fifty-nine.

It’s amazing how we are surrounded by reminders of time. They are all around us. I don’t just mean clocks, I mean photographs, trinkets, clothes (as in trying to fit into something years-old, or that you purchased, say, two years ago and remember), jewelry and even people. All of it and more remind us all that time is passing no matter how much we want to slow it down or stop it.

The first time I got a lesson in that was when I was about three or four. I just happened to be wide awake at dawn one day and the sky was that beautiful Royal Blue it turns on clear days before going light blue then orange, yellow then daylight. Anyway, it’s one of my most vivid memories because I shouted out to God “God, keep the sky like this forever!” I was way young and naive enough to believe that the pretty sky could stay one color (my favorite color) forever. As it slowly went from Royal Blue to the light of day I remember thinking “time doesn’t stop for anyone, does it.” And the answer is “silly boy, of course it doesn’t. Time waits for no one.”

As a lover of all things science fiction as I grew older I was completely fascinated by a 1980 television movie called “The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything.” Based on the 1962 book by John D. MacDonald, the movie was about a guy who inherits a gold pocket watch that can stop time for everyone else except the person holding the watch. Of course, the wackiness ensues from there but I remember that show because I thought it was cool. I thought how awesome it would be to freeze a moment in time, watch it, breath it, take it all in and observe its every detail. There was even an inscription in the watch – “tempus unum hominem manet” (Latin for “time waits for one man”). Oh, how I wish that were so for if it were I would have done two definitive things…

…one, spent as much time with my mom as I could…

…two, not lose and waste as much time as I did, especially after her passing, to addictions, the most insidious thief of time there is.

Last night in my meeting we talked about withdrawl which is what actually got me thinking about time. I think about how much time is lost, but I also think about how much time, moving forward, is a gift not to be wasted. It is to be cherished and appreciated because it is something that always, ALWAYS, keeps slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future. When I realized how much time I had personally wasted I became ashamed and vowed never to waste it again.

When I decided to lose weight I did it just to stop aching watching a movie in a theater. I didn’t set out to lose the weight of a grown person but as I was doing it I knew it would take time to do (which for me was three-and-a-half years). Now that I have I cannot waste that gift. Not anymore. Today I’m going to my mixed martial arts workout to appreciate the life given back to me – the life I would not have if I were still at 400 pounds. If weight loss is your goal, what are you waiting for? There will never be a magic “start” time, or perfect set of circumstances with which to begin. Just begin because each day you delay what you want you get another day closer to inevitability.

There are so many people in this world who, in their last moments, say “I wish I would have done this or that.” Well, I don’t want to be one of those people. I never have, and you shouldn’t be, either. You are worth taking your life and time by the horns and guiding them where you want to go, especially if that involves weight loss. So many times WE are the ones in our own way. And why? Because we’re scared of success. Don’t be, because that success will mean you get to do the things you’ve always wanted to do so that when you look around at those subtle, and not-so-subtle, reminders of time we all have you will smile and feel uplifted and joyous and that is what will keep your skies Royal Blue.

So, c’mon. get up! Time’s a tickin’

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock…