Guaranteed Gold

I was really touched as I watched Lindsey Vonn win her gold medal in the women's downhill a couple of days ago.  She had been battling a painful shin bruise and at one point it wasn't clear that she'd be able to compete at all.  Despite the pain, she skied to gold.  Following her gold medal run,she was asked what the gold medal meant to her.  She sobbed as she said "This means everything to me.  I've given up everything for this."

What focus - what dedication!  Years of of training, practice and determination culminated in this one brief, glorious moment for Lindsey.  She worked through the pain and made so many other difficult choices along the way because she knew what she wanted.

Knowing what we want - what we REALLY want - and keeping our eyes fixed on our own prize will ultimately determine our success or failure.  If we know what we want, then our determination can become as steely and unshakable as Lindsey's.  When we know what we want, we are much less likely to shift our focus on what we're temporarily giving up because our eyes are straight ahead and focused on where we're going.

I remember reaching a point on my own Take Shape for Life/Medifast weight loss journey when the reality of reaching my goal became crystal clear.  Once I focused on reaching my goal, I viewed all off-plan foods as obstacles that would do nothing more than keep me from where I wanted to me.  It's not that those foods didn't look or smell good, because they did, but they no longer tempted me in the same, old way.  For the first time in a very long time, I wanted something more - something better - than the temporary satisfaction I would have gotten from eating those things.

It all comes down, again, to determining what it is that we really want and then making the choices necessary to get it.  Lindsey made all of those choices, but winning the gold medal was never a given for her, as other athletes have made those same choices and fallen short of winning a gold medal.  However, when WE make OUR choice to get to goal, it IS a given!  This program works and there are countless success stories to prove it.  The outcome of our journey is guaranteed, providing we make the necessary choices along the way.

Have a great Saturday, and choose wisely :-)