Inspiring Stories

Walking to a new life

About 3 months ago I met a lady in the park.  Well “met” isn’t exactly what I mean.  We actually started sharing the same running paths at the same time.  The day that I first saw her, I distinctly remember thinking how terrible she looked.  She was overweight, in a big way and it looked like she was trying to hide it with the baggiest clothes she could find.  She moved along with a slump and her feet seemed to barely leave the ground as she slowly, slowly walked the path.  I felt bad running by her, because I imagined myself as being part of a whole world that was passing her by.  The look in her face and the way she dragged herself along made me think that she was at the end.  Little did I know that she was actually at the beginning.

Over the weeks I was surprised by the way that she was always there.  I run there often and I see a lot of people come and go.  Some people are there once a week and others are there more, but everyday that I trained at this particular park, she was also there at exactly the same time.  It felt she was stalking me, or maybe I was stalking her.  Of course it was just coincidence, but for the past 3 months we have shared the same paths about 4 or 5 times a week. 

Over that time, we have never said a word to each other.  Neither do I know her name or anything about her.  All I know is what I see of her, and that is getting less and less.  Over the weeks of consistently walking she has gradually reduced her size to what is approaching a normal shape, for someone of her height.  I’m sure she would still be technically obese, but she has lost masses of weight.  The best thing about this, from what I can see, is the difference it has made in how she presents herself.  Instead of heading out in her baggy clothes, she now wears normal clothes like any other person who walks.  Instead of slouching along, she holds her head high and I would say that her posture is even better than mine.  When I watch her feet move, there is no more dragging and shuffling.  She now has a distinct spring in her step and she looks confident and proud, the sort of person who doesn’t feel the need to apologize for their life. 

It gradually dawned on me that although I thought I had been sharing the paths with the same person over these last months, somewhere along the line, this person had totally changed.  I suspect that it wasn’t overnight for her, but as she gradually realised that she was getting her life together she became a new person.  It doesn’t matter when it happened so much as that it did.  From my perspective, there old person is nowhere to be seen.  The new has taken over and she looks ready to live.

Today rather than pitying the lady, I envy her.  She has just had an amazing few months.  She has transformed her body which is important, but more importantly this seems to have transformed her attitude.  All she has done is formed a plan and stuck with it until it really takes effect.  She decided that walking was going to help her get her act together and so she does it.  How simple but how effective.  I don’t want to lose any weight and I don’t need to walk endless laps of the park, but I am inspired by her progress.  It makes me realise how simple it can be to transform our situation.  Simple should not be confused with easy, but the path to our goals doesn’t have to be technical and convoluted.  All we have to do, is do the right things - the things that matter - and progress will follow.

This morning, I saw what I think must be the end of her phase 1 of her plan and the start of phase 2.  As I rounded a bend, I saw her running.  She was not going fast and she looked a little wobbly and awkward but she was running.  Pretty soon, she slowed down again to a walk, but I guess that is part of her plan.  My prediction is that over the next few months she will keep coming to the park and will gradually replace all of her walking with running.  Then we will see some change in attitude.  There is nothing like running to boost your self esteem and capability, over time.  She is in for a treat.

When I saw this today, I was so excited that I wanted to go up and congratulate her and tell her how great it was to watch her progress.  It took some effort to hold myself back.  I had to remember that we don’t have a real relationship, we only share the same paths at the same time.  But I would love to get her to write her own version of her story for us all to read here.  Unfortunately this won’t happen, so instead we have to concentrate on making our own stories.

This is what LifeGoalAction is all about.  Deciding what is important to you and doggedly, and persistently pursuing it until you succeed.  Each and everyone of us is able to achieve extraordinary things if we simply do what needs to be done, over and over again.  It is up to us to create our own story - gradually, deliberately and expectantly.

Thanks

Tom