Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I've gained weight since last Christmas ... but today I don't care

I had a Christmas party today.  I confidently took out my party dress from last year ... and it didn't fit.  Well, it sort of fit.  I could SQUEEZE into it, and I only looked a bit like a sausage around the chest and hip area.  And it only dug into my arms a bit.  Trying to prolong the denial, I almost talked myself into wearing it, but then I had a rush of sense to the head and went and found a slightly less dressy dress for the party.

So,  anyway, I was kind of moping on the way there.  I knew I hadn't maintained my weight as well as I had wanted, and now I couldn't wear this dress (which I love) to this party or my cousin's wedding this weekend.  I was feeling kind of sorry for myself.

Then God definitely smacked me upside the head and told me to get over myself.  No sooner did I walk into the party than I found out that one of my friend's daughters had been arrested for child abuse, and it was the talk of the party because it had been the lead-in story on the local news the night before.  (I had not seen it since I don't have a television.)  Also, it was on the second page of the local newspaper.  So I called the friend and, sure enough, her daughter is using again, and the child abuse allegations stem from poor decisions she made while under the influence.

Let's compare problems here - a 7 lb weight gain vs. a daughter who (1) is charged with things that could put her away for 40 years and (2) is back on drugs, not to mention having everyone she knows hear about it on the evening news.  Suddenly my problems (the need to eat less candy, the need to find or buy a new dress before Saturday with no money left in my discretionary budget) just didn't seem so bad.  And then my mom took me shopping and bought me a really cute new dress for my birthday.  I sure am blessed!

3 comments:

  1. Perspective is something isn't it? My biggest smack upside the head was when I was worrying myself sick over work and my job and then my father in law dropped dead. It seemed so trivial after.

    I still haven't lost some of my post baby weight but I'm not working that hard at it either.

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  2. That's a good point - as the saying goes, nobody's last words are "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

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  3. Thanks for the perspective. I've been feeling terrible about gaining back +10 lbs. Everything is tight. But life is good here, and I will be grateful for what I have.

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