Through someone else’s eyes

I’ve been down on myself lately since I have been a little off track. I’ve not run as often as I feel I should (read: none) nor have I been on track with my eating. Now, thankfully I have not gained anything, but I’m not making any forward progress. It’s my own fault, I have been letting life’s trials and tribulations get into my head and bring me down.

This morning, I woke up, put my contacts in, threw on some clothes and took my dog for his morning walk. As I was getting dressed, I would catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and shook my head at what I saw. What I saw was a person who looked no different (in my mind) than when she first started. Didn’t matter than my jeans were five sizes smaller than I used to wear and the shirt I had thrown on used to not button and now it is baggy.

Not a good mental morning.

So the pup and I head out on our daily neighborhood sniff-fest (he does the sniffing, I just clean up after him and make sure he doesn’t chase too many bunnies) and I spent much of the walk feeling disappointed in myself.

Then something happened.

One of my neighbors was walking toward me with her dogs. I smiled and waved to her. She waved back and said “I almost didn’t recognize you! You keep getting smaller and smaller!”

That random little bit of recognition for how far I have come really helped lighten my mood.

When you have those moments that you question your progress and your efforts, seeing it through someone else’s eyes can be so beneficial.

I mentioned this to some friends and how it came at a time I was being very hard on myself for slacking and not staying on track lately and a very wise friend of mine wrote:

“It’s a road and you might wander a little left now and then, and a little right, but you’re still on the road.”

So here is to staying on the road, the diversions and distractions we encounter on our journey, and keeping an eye on the destination.