Second chances. And sometimes thirds…

The best thing about making a mistake, in most cases, is that it isn’t fatal. It might not even be as big of a deal as you might  make it out to be. And that’s so me, so often. Over-exaggeration. Worse-case-scenario. Over-the-top dramatics.

We all make mistakes. As my friend Brandon Auret tells me,”We human.” And being part of the human race means that we all invariably screw up. While I haven’t yet mastered the ability to not, as some would say, “freak the fuck out” when I do goof up, I have gotten better and have been learning to not let it get to me. At least for not very long. It’s in the past. Learn from the mistakes, and move on.

So whenever I fall off the proverbial weight loss wagon, I try my best to not let it threaten all that I have worked for up to that point. I try to put into perspective that 1) we all make mistakes, 2) it doesn’t mean I’m a failure, and 3) I just have to work that much harder to make up for the misstep.

It’s not easy to get back on the wagon again. It’s a struggle every day to even stay on, so when I fall off, I have to work that much harder to climb back up and keep going. It’s hard. I’ve said that a thousand times before.That hasn’t changed. But what has changed?

Me.

I’m stronger than I was six months ago. I’m stronger than I was a year ago. I’m not the same person. And for every  mistake I’ve made, I’ve learned something that will help me on the next go-round.

Does it get tiresome?  The falling off and climbing back on? Sure. But someone reminded me recently that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Of course, we’ve all heard that adage. But this one is the one that resonates with me the most:

So while I don’t relish the idea of failing at losing weight and getting healthy a thousand times, the meaning isn’t lost on me.

Keep trying. Learn from your mistakes. And succeed.

Starting tomorrow I’m back on the wagon. I hope I won’t get tossed off, but hope that if I do, I will be better prepared to deal with it, move on and climb back on.

Tomorrow is #GreenMonday. If you’re like me and have never heard of it, it’s a world-wide movement that tries to education everyone about healthier plant-based eating, but also its affect on the environment by doing so. Similar to “MeatlessMonday”, a vow to participate in #GreenMonday means that you’ll eat only plant-based foods all day on Mondays, with no consumption of meat, milk or eggs.

For more information (and some recipes as well), this link:

http://greenmonday.co.za/

brings you to the South African site for #GreenMonday.  South African Actor/Singer/Screenwriter Benedikt Sebastian introduced me to #GreenMonday through some of his posts and I vowed to be Green on Mondays. You can too.  Thank you, Benedikt!

Certainly this isn’t to say that I (or anyone else) will become a vegetarian like Benedikt. But I believe more and more that as we try to reduce our consumption of meats, and increase plant-based foods into our “diets”, we are not only helping the planet, but certainly ourselves. Our bodies. And our minds.

For the time that I was eating so little meat, I not only was losing weight but I felt better.I felt cleaner. And in all honesty, I just felt like I was doing something right.

So here’s to my first #GreenMonday. My climbing back on the wagon. And to finally feeling better about myself. Something that’s been missing for a while now.

Blessings to all.

Love,