Have you ever driven somewhere so many times that you could
do it with your eyes closed? Well, maybe not closed, but you know what I mean.
Have you ever found yourself at a destination with no real memory of actually
making the drive? Not because your memory was impaired, but because the route
was so intimately familiar that you didn't have to think about it, you just
went through the motions, and – voilà – destination reached!
Believe it or not, I just had that experience on an
eight-hour ride! You wouldn't think that a trip that long could go by in a
blur, but it did. Not that I wasn't paying attention, I was, but the time just
seemed to fly by (of course, time is doing that a lot lately). Anyway, what I
realized as I was making my trek northward, is that sometimes you have to go
back to the beginning of your road trip to find the raison d'être- rediscover
that spark, if you will- to discover why you are even on the journey at all.
You see, ever since I hit my goal, I've been struggling with
the mental transition from losing to staying. After two and a half years of
losing weight, I still feel bad if I maintain. But that’s the point of hitting
“goal”…maintaining. So, as I started out of my driveway, it dawned on me that
this is my first road trip since hitting the magic number. And even though the
literal drive would be the same, I had the opportunity to view the figurative
one through different eyes.
So, I've always said that my “road trip” would never end, I
would just keep changing destinations, but I think now I've realized that the
destination will always be the same, but the course I choose to get there will
actually be different. While losing weight, I needed to focus on reaching the
small milestones along the way (and Weight Watchers is fabulous at helping
people celebrate those small, but significant, achievements). Upon hitting my
goal, I needed to take a few steps back, look at how far I've come and then get
back in the car and do it all again. And as with all road trips, just when you
think you can’t take it anymore, can’t be in the car for one more second, you
realize you are right where you are supposed to be at that moment in time. For
some reason, that realization allows you to keep focus on the task at hand and
helps with the overwhelming sensation that the road is too long, the journey
too difficult. Once you realize how much you have given of yourself to be at
that point, it should put everything in perspective – nothing is as long and
difficult as what is already behind you.
So, what I discovered on my literal road trip, is that I
shouldn't dread what’s ahead of me, it will be over before I know it and I
should just enjoy the drive, scenery, music and everything that comes with the
ride along the way. No fretting, I've done it before, and I know I will do it
again, I just have to keep learning something new with every trip so that I don’t
get bored. Staying the course is not an option, only changing it along the way
will keep me challenged.
