Twas Beauty Killed the Beast

Do your weight loss efforts feel a little like a monkey on your back?  In my case, it's more like a gorilla.  Fay Wray's got nothing on me.  That big gorilla hand has got me firmly in his grasp.  And if I let him, this big fugly gorilla will get the best of me.  But if you saw the movie, you'll remember "twas the beauty killed the beast" - not the other way around.

No, I'm not calling myself any beauty but rather am referring to the beauty within us that we've perhaps forgotten we have.  And we all have something - a gift, a talent, a way with people, a penchant for kindness - you name it.  Whatever your "beauty" is, it may have temporarily gotten obscured by the beast of low self-esteem, criticism, loneliness, frustration - any number of emotions or circumstances that turn us away from our better selves.

Last week, I saw a photo of a couple who I knew a very long time ago.  They were in great shape and their smiles seemed to express that not only did they look good, they felt good too.  Given I haven't been in good shape since - well, um - 1991, the green-eyed monster made a brief appearance and I started feeling badly about myself.  Good Lord, I thought, if they saw a picture of me today, I don't think they'd recognize me!  And that's when a light inside me went on.  No, I certainly have not achieved the physical condition these folks have, but I have achieved plenty of other things in my life that I've lately been giving short shrift to.  I've only been focusing on what I don't have rather than what I do have and it has made my weight loss journey that much more difficult.

Finding that beauty within will help sustain you during these trying times when that monkey on your back is beginning to feel like King Kong.  Find out what you like best about yourself and keep it in front of you as often as possible, along with your goal, and you'll soon find that beauty indeed will kill the beast.