Pushing Your Way Through

I have a few Hollyhocks in my garden that just grew there. I did not plant them. I did not take the time to make a place for them so that they would stand out as specimen plants. No tender loving care was bestowed on these flowers to help them become the plants I found stunning and beautiful with their rich outer color of burgundy with soft pink centers. What a delight to find these treasures in my garden. They found their way into my world without so much as a finger lifted on my part. Before this summer I saw Hollyhocks as a simple, common plant. To someone else it is possible that they are the gem of plants. Maybe a reminder of the good old days when things were simple and sweet. My grandmother grew hers around back of the old outhouse on her farm. That is how I remember them.

How did they come into my garden? The seed was most likely transferred in the breeze and made its way to me. Even though I did nothing to help them grow and take root in my garden, I have come to see that they now belong there. They did all the work and I now admire them for their resilience.

When referring to ecological resilience, it is the ability to return to its original state after being disturbed. You see, about nine or ten years ago I pulled every single Hollyhock out of my garden replacing them with other tall flowers. I had not seen any trace of them since. But now there are new ones. They were insistent and settled themselves in among the other plants and kept pushing until they stood tall and bloomed in all their glory.

Resilience has yet another meaning. It is the ability to make realistic plans , being capable of taking the necessary steps to follow through. A positive self-concept and confidence in ones strengths and abilities. Having communication and problem-solving skills. And the ability to manage strong impulses and feelings.

Are we resilient in our weight loss journey? Do we know our weaknesses and strengths and fight the urges to give into our old ways? Do we still use food as a form of comfort, celebration, reward, socialization and escape from the feelings we are having at that moment, good or bad! Can we push our way through these deep rooted emotions and become healthy and happy? Or are we easily stomped out and have little to no strength and will power when it gets difficult. Becoming overwhelmed by other things that can easily crowd out our conviction to reach our goals.

By retraining our brains, finding our trigger points and looking at food in a new light we can win this battle and become successful in our endeavor to feel better and healthier. Having real control. Finally putting dieting in the past and living each day a new. Learning more and more how we can win the war not just the battle of obesity.

The odds are against us, our past experiences of weight loss and regain have made us timorous about our future and our weight management. At those times maybe we were not ready or we denied ourselves food or it was a fad diet of some sort that we had to follow. Whatever it was. That is in the past! Now is the time to see a new and improved you with a brighter future of no weight related health issues. A busier and more fulfilled life ahead of us. If we really want it, it is there for the taking. Weight loss surgery is the tool that will give us the time we need to get help to fix why we became obese in the first place.

No one said it was going to be easy. No wait! Those who have not experienced what it takes mentally, emotionally and physically to be successful might not understand all of it and use the over used quote, ' you are taking the easy way out.' But no matter. It is about us forcing our way through the hard times, the painful times and yes even the good times.

Like the Hollyhocks in my garden that planted themselves there against all probability. We too can push our way through and plant ourselves in the garden of life with a new healthier us with a bright and colorful future ahead of us with the help of one of the weight loss surgeries that are available to us.