Street Walking

How does one REALLY go about changing something big and important in their lives? It's HARD!! How did we get to the place we don't like? What keeps us there?

"My Life in Five Chapters" is a well known anecdote about making change in one's life. I'm not really sure who is the original author of this fantastic piece, but I have put together my own version from my memory of it being told to me:

Chapter 1: I walk down the street, there is a deep hole in the sidwalk and I fall in. I am lost. I am hopeless. It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend not to see it, and I fall in again. It's not my fault, and it takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3: I walk down the same street, and there is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see the hole, but I still fall in - it's now become a habit. But, I know where I am, I know it's my fault, and I get out quickly.

Chapter 4: I walk down the same street, and there is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter 5: I walk down a different street.

There are things about ourselves that we all want to change. For me, it is the way I think about food. The bottle of rum that's been sitting on my kitchen counter for weeks now is almost invisible. I could really care less that it's there. But, the half eaten bag of chocolate chips? Oh my. It calls my name ever so sweetly, caressing the back of my neck, smiling, reminding me how good it will be. Oh yah, I'm sick!

But, where is the 12 step program for foodies? An alcoholic can eliminate alcohol from their life, never walk into a bar again, never drink another cocktail. A smoker can throw away their cigarettes, never take another puff (although I hear this is one of the hardest addictions to break). But none of us can stop eating. We just have to learn to eat less, and that is really tough.

So, here I am, totally embarassing myself on my blog, talking about how I eat too much. Yes, this is embarassing for me. Even though it is obvious I eat too much from the moment you see me. What we eat in private does show up in public, after all.

But I am making serious changes in my life about food. I am walking down a whole different boulevard. I don't know where this road will lead, but I have to change streets because I don't want to fall into that hole ever again.