Once upon time there was a lady who decided she needed to get healthy so she could live out her dreams in the 3rd chapter of her life. She tried for years and years. She lied to herself. She lied to others. She was in a total state of denial. People tried to help her, talk to her and make suggestions.....all to no avail.. This caused the lady great pain and caused her to shut down in many ways. People who knew her could see the pain she was feeling but didn't know how to help and not continue to hurt her.
One day.......Donna (yes, of course the heroine of the story is named Donna) decided she had had enough.....either she did something about her health issues or she would die before living out her dreams. Her pain was visible in the way she walked, avoided mirrors and hated having her picture taken. Donna did not like looking at herself. Actually she hated herself.....
Last September, our heroine (yes I call her a heroine....writers prerogative)......walked into Weight Watchers for the nine zillionth time. She hoped maybe this time it would work.......
Well, see the picture of Donna below......yes, that is her almost 53 pounds lighter.....smiling......willing to be in a picture with her WW buddies.......
Her WW buddies have been encouraging Donna to try getting out of her comfort zone. While they understood she could not do the 5 miler they were taking part in, they agreed that Donna doing her run/jog in the pool at the gym would be equal to their run. Donna would do her "run" the night before their race and then meet them at the finish line for a group photo.
Here is the group photo!!!!
And the group hug..........
If Donna hadn't tried Weight Watchers one more time she would have missed meeting these wonderful, supportive women!!!!
Donna's family and other friends are seeing the return of the old Donna.......the Donna who loved to laugh, was positive, embraced life and wasn't afraid to make plans for the future. Donna now pushed to try and do new things (and is writing a book about the new things she is trying). Donna knows she has a long way to go on this journey to reach her goal but each day she is one day closer to being the healthy person she needs to be........that she wants to be.
Donna is seriously thinking (not committing to yet) doing a 5K next year after dropping some additional pounds. But she knows if she can't do it.....it doesn't mean she is a failure!!! She knows there are things she will never do again....like ice skate or ski. There are some things she never did and never will.....like ski dive or mountain climb. But the list continues to grow of things Donna will do........she will finish the books she is writing, she will one way or another get published, she will get up and talk in front of groups of people, she will be healthier than she has been in years and by God she will weigh less than the number on her drivers license!!!!!
But for tonight she will be happy to fall asleep knowing today was another milestone for her. As she drifts to sleep.......these will be under her pillow......
PS1 The first medal was for today's race and my WW buddies presented it to me for my 4.5 mile pool jog last night.
PS2 The second medal was from my WW buddy, Judy. She told a friend of hers about me and gave me the medal as a gift. I think of it as inspiration.
PS3 If you think you are only going to see these medals in pictures you are wrong......I will be sporting these babies around my neck for as many events as I can.....LOL.....I am NOT kidding so watch out for them!!!!
PS4 Thank you Judy, Farrah, Stefanie and Sheri for helping me make one of my dreams into a reality!!! You ladies rock and I love you all!!! Also, thank you to Jenn, our photographer, who got out of bed early on a Saturday to stand in the rain and take the pictures of us!!
PS5 and to all my family and friends who have always been in my corner cheering me on.....thanks for hanging in there with me......I know it hasn't always been fun but you all believed in me when I didn't believe in myself!!!!
See you next week.........
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