The Road Less Bumpy

I have mainly been concentrating on the obstacles of my journey. While I want to offer you encouragement and help you prepare if you are about to embark on your own pilgrimage, I certainly don’t want to frighten you away and have you believe that it is all rough waters, with no light at the end of the tunnel (I guess this travel metaphor has really taken off!).

 

Every post so far has been about the things that are challenging me along the way, but what I have neglected to talk about are the days when I hit all the green lights, have no detours, my pit stops are at clean restrooms and the car is driving like a dream. Believe it or not, the majority of my journey has been like this (so far, anyway). After being on this plan for well over a year now, my decisions and choices have become second nature. There’s not really a lot of thought behind what I am doing now. I think about it like this... when I first got my license, I had to think about putting on my seatbelt, I had to think about looking in all my mirrors, I had to think about using the turn signal, but now, because I have been driving for so long and I am driving a vehicle that I love, I do all of those things without thinking because they are habits. Of course, just because some things are natural when it comes to driving doesn’t mean that I am not still aware of everyone else on the road, because let’s face it, while we can control our own cars, we can’t control others’!

I realized that I had established some habits with regards to food. For instance, I would eat when I was bored, when I was sad, when I was happy, to celebrate, to mourn, while watching TV or even playing on the computer. It was not about eating because I was hungry, it was about taking comfort in an old friend. Now, I have found other outlets— like writing this blog— which has really helped me thrive along the way. I am working on forming new habits and it’s been a chain reaction: I am eating better, so I have more energy, so I take my afternoon walks, which stimulates my mind, which has really helped me focus on what I want, and that focus has led me to start this blog. I only wish that I had started it earlier, but as George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” So, it’s never too late to go to your first meeting, it’s never to late to take that first walk around the block and it’s certainly never too late to write the first blog post!

I can always learn from the bumpy parts of my road trip, but I also need to realize that the road less bumpy is a good time to fully appreciate what is happening around me. I have also come to realize that I may be the one driving, but I am not alone on the journey. I have the support of my family, friends and everyone in the group; however, it’s ultimately up to me to be in control of how successful or unsuccessful this trip will be. And right now, I feel like I have been successful, and that has made all the difference.