The Most Important Question
Is there a
worse way to start the week? I stepped
onto the scale, at the beginning of the week, to see a number that was way too high! I’m talking five pounds above where I should
be on a Monday morning. What the heck
happened? There was a time I’d say, “No
big deal!” I’d throw caution to the wind,
use this as an excuse to go crazy, and figure out a new time to begin
again. I actually stayed on plan all through
last weekend! I didn’t pig out. I’m still food “sober”, so what gives? I worked out every day. Every - Single - Day!
I’m not here to whine, complain, or offer
excuses, but… I guess that’s what
happens when you are a middle-aged woman, during that time of the month, and
you’re writing a book about successful weight loss. You freak out!
What do I do? I don’t want to
sound paranoid about this, but anyone who’s been on this familiar diet and yo-yo
weight roller coaster ride knows how quickly things can spiral up when it’s not
in check. I’ve worked too hard to not
figure out what’s happening now. I
realize that it’s time to check myself and it’s time to get real!
I’m reminded
of a story I recently heard about a man, I’ll call George. He’s a friend of a friend from here in South
Carolina. George went off to fight in
the Korean War as a young man in the early 1950’s. When he returned back into town, after the
war, he never went to see his father. Riddled
with worry, his father set out to find him for he knew of his son’s return. Late into the evening George’s father found
him. He was in a parked car off to the
side of a remote road. George was naked
and passed out in the front seat. His
clothes were scattered all over the floor.
There was also a naked woman passed out in the back seat. Several empty beer cans were tossed all about. George’s father approached the car and knocked
loudly on the window. George slowly awakened
and rolled down his window. The only
thing his father said to him was this one question. He asked, “Is that the best you can do?”
George is now an elderly man in his
80’s. He lives all alone in his father’s
farmhouse. George is a feeble old man
living the life of a hoarding hermit. He
only utilizes a small portion of three rooms of his house because of the floor
to ceiling daily newspapers stacked in every room. You can’t help but wonder if George’s life a
result of settling for less than what he was capable of doing. Did he live a life of lowered standards,
never doing the best he could?
This week I thought about this story as
I stepped onto the scale Monday morning, and many times throughout the week. I asked myself this question on multiple
occasions. “Is that the best you can
do?” Zig Ziglar said, “Success means
doing the best we can with what we have.
Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph,
success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us,
becoming all that we can be.” How much
am I really putting into my workouts? Am
I realistically monitoring my portion size?
Is that truly 4 ounces of chicken, or if I weighed it, is it really closer
to 8? Is that the best choice of what my
body needs to nourish it? Is that the
best I can do? Something tells me that I
wasn’t truly doing my best. I was lax on
portion size and heavy on the snacking.
I was not keeping myself in check as well as I could have and the
results reflected accordingly. I know I
can do better.
Years ago, in Middle School, I brought
home a report card that was less than stellar.
I forget the exact class, but I remember receiving a big fat “C”. I typically received all A’s and B’s, with more
of an abundance of B’s. I recall being
really upset by the C. It was my first
one. I also remember that fear for when Dad
would come home and waiting for the stern talking to. I’ll never forget when Dad asked me if I did
the best I could in the class. He said that
if I truly did my best, then a C is a good grade. If I slacked off, and didn’t study as much as
I needed, then a C wasn’t good enough.
Clearly, to my defense, I said I did the absolute best I possibly could. But I knew I didn’t.
“Is that the
best you can do?” This profound question
can apply to anything in life. If you don’t strive to do your best in the
little things, what makes you think you’ll be your best in the big things? Jackson Brown, Jr. said, “The best
preparation for tomorrow is doing your best for today.” I’m not advocating perfection. If you do your best, and you know you truly
are, that is enough. Do your best and
let God do the rest.
This week I did do my best. The scale inched back down as the week progressed. I ended the week just a little bit above my goal target weight, which I'm confident will come back down. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." God promised if I do the work, He’ll take care of the results. Doing the work also means doing my best. I owe God my best.
This week I did do my best. The scale inched back down as the week progressed. I ended the week just a little bit above my goal target weight, which I'm confident will come back down. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." God promised if I do the work, He’ll take care of the results. Doing the work also means doing my best. I owe God my best.
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