Adventures in the Kingdom of Skinny

Over the New Year's weekend my husband and I went to Moab with our friends, Zak & Michelle for the express purpose of hiking and rappelling. I have, of course, hiked before but Zak is a serious hiker and outdoorsman. I was nervous and concerned that I might not be able to keep up. I didn't want him to get frustrated or annoyed at my lack of altheticism.

As a child I played sports all the way through high school. My dad forced us to go outside and "play" by running drills and doing competitions. It was a pretty brilliant strategy even if I didn't appreciate it at the time. This level of activity, while never effective at keeping me from being overweight, served me well by building my confidence in being able to keep up and at times, surpass the abilities of those that were naturally thin. However, as an adult I've had to readjust my ego several times as I had forgotten that
1. It has been 20 years since high school.
2. I was, although still overweight, significantly less so "back in the day"

Over the years as I have attempted to get back into shape by working out, I have become frustrated that I couldn't do more than 30 seconds of jogging in place or more than 8 full sit ups at a time. The frustration would often lead down the path of anger, resentment, disappointment and finally arriving at the land of defeat where giving up seemed like the most humane solution. Robert Frost would be so disappointed if he knew just how well worn that path was.

I really hate to use quotes that are commonplace making them seem trite and meaningless, but in this case, I'm going to make an exception. Einstein has been quoted as saying, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." So, by definition, I was insane. :) I no longer have to lay claim to that sort of malaise. I have changed my life forever when I took the first step on the path "less traveled by" and now, I can do this: