The Picture

As I was disinfecting the tables yesterday morning toward the end of class, one student was left in the room working on his program. He looked up when I approached and said, "Congratulations on a great job!" I was thinking: "Wow! this just made my day...someone complimented me on my cleaning skills!" He then pointed to my badge and said, "I noticed your picture. How much have you lost?"

I don't pay too much attention to this photo and most days I forget it's even there. But, what she represents is 170 pounds of excess, 170 pounds of blood, sweat and tears shed. She symbolizes a person who didn't believe in herself, who thought even running 1 mile was an unattainable dream...Well, even beyond the realm of dreams, more like fantasy. When I have time to reflect, I ask myself if this is real? Am I really doing this? Did I really lose all this weight or will I wake up in my former shell? Yes, it's real and I can do anything I put my mind, body and soul to. I want to ride a roller coaster without fear or embarrassment. I want to run a half marathon, a marathon and ultramarathon. I want to learn martial arts (particularly jujitsu). I want to climb another mountain (something a little more challenging than my first, Gloss Mountain in Oklahoma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Mountains). But first, maybe I should update the picture? :-)