Full Speed Ahead!

Guess what I learned the other day? A rhinoceros can run 30 miles an hour! Given it's size, 30 mph is an amazing speed (a squirrel can run 27 mph). Do you know what's even more amazing than how fast a rhinoceros can run? Rhinos can only see 30 feet ahead. Think about it! The animal can only see 30 feet in front of him and he's running 30 mph.

I actually learned all of this in church last Sunday (and yes, my pastor did have a point!) :-). He made the statement that rhinos run full speed ahead, even though they can only see 30 feet in front of them, figuring that what ever is at 31 feet better be afraid of what's coming!

Now what does this have to do with losing weight and getting healthy?

So often we're afraid to move full-speed ahead with getting to our goal because we can't see what's ahead. We want to see the entire path laid out before us before we're ready to just go for it. We think we need to know exactly how transition will look and we especially want to be able to envision life in maintenance. When some of those things are a bit fuzzy, we can find ourselves putting on the brakes because venturing into the unknown can be scary.

This can be particularly true for those of you who have struggled with weight your entire life. If you've always been overweight, heading towards a healthy weight really CAN feel like you're the near-sighted rhino running full speed towards who-knows-what, because you're heading to a place you've never been before. You may not like what's in your near view, but it's familiar, and that can be enough to keep you in a cycle of self-sabotage.

If this sounds like you, here's my best suggestion: run as fast as you can towards your goal, even if you don't have a clue what it will look like when you get there! This requires a certain amount of courage, to be sure, and it requires some trust. However, with each step you take, you'll see one more step ahead, so don't worry about the steps you can't yet see - they will become clear when you get there.

And the destination - a healthy, thin body - is worth every step of the journey. And YOU'RE worth it!