Friend of Julie: Perspective

It's amazing how one can lose nearly a hundred pounds (9-10 sizes; my actual weight loss is not known) and how one little photo can leave you feeling like you haven't lost any weight at all. I had a situation last weekend that left me feeling like I hadn't lost an ounce of weight, but I have been able to put things into perspective and get over myself.

This blurry photo inspired me to buy a new camera.

Last weekend I had a great day visiting a cousin with my brothers in RI who we hadn't seen in years. We spent most of our visit talking family history. We went to Bridget Crowley's grave, our first relative from Ireland to come to America. A few years ago relatives donated money to put a headstone on her grave. It's hard to believe someone didn't do this 60 or 70 years ago, but I was happy to be part of making it happen at long last. I'd heard about Bridget over the years and I'm looking forward to learning more about her life and her family from my cousin.

While visiting we took a few photos of each other. Nobody can ever take a sharp photo with my iPhone, but I uploaded the photo anyhow because this is what I want to talk about this morning.

I was feeling great that day and then I saw this photo and my mood quickly changed. As blurry as the picture is - all I could see was my belly! Note to self: wear longer blouses with these jeans. I was so bummed about my belly hanging out like that and I felt embarrassed that I left the house in that outfit.

A few days later, I saw the obituary of my friend's husband, George Gladir and that helped pull things into perspective. Life isn't measured by the size of our belly or the size of our body. It's measure by the size of what we do with our lives.

We're all doing incredible things with our lives: changing them for the better and helping each other do the same. Today we focus on our bodies, but at some point, we get to move beyond this focus an on to bigger things in life. That's what I'm excited about, when I find the next big thing I can use all my energy to focus on instead of myself.

A friend once told me "If you don't know what you want, how can you possibly get it?" She's right. And it's time for me to figure out what I want next.

What about you? Do you have the next big thing lined up to do when your weight is no longer the focus of you life? You don't have to know what it is today, but you can start dreaming today. If you can't dream it - it won't happen, so dream big.