I had a huge revelation this past week. I’m sure this is something I’ve always known but for whatever reason this theme keeps coming back over and over. I’m dieting again for the 700th time in my life, and have a friend who’s helping me with the accountability. Every day I journal and send her my food plan and actual consumption. As it turns out my thoughts around the choices I make pop up as well. So today is Sunday, Day 17 of the concentrated “food plan” effort. On day 12, after a chip binge, I had the big “You can’t take it back” epiphany.
It really started me thinking. When I eat chips, which aren’t on my food plan, I can’t take it back. It’s a conscience decision to delay progress. And then it dawned on me that everything is like that. No matter what we do as a parent, employee, friend, spouse, mom, dad, boss, it’s lasting. Good things and bad. You can’t take it back. If we waste time, if we choose not to make a call or follow up on a lead, if we blow off accountability, or say things we wished we had not said, we can’t really take it back.
Sometimes on Sundays I’ll have a total veg-out day and watch a Law and Order Marathon. It cracks me up when defense attorneys object to something and the judge says to the jury, “please disregard the witnesses’ last comment.” Okay, really? What’s done is done. People don’t forget. You can pretend you didn’t hear the comment but the reality is you can’t take it back.
The travel creates unique challenges when it comes to following a good food plan. It can be done. Just like anything, it takes planning, good goal setting, and a commitment to the process. My plan yesterday was good, but execution was lousy. Life really is a lot like bowling! You can have all the knowledge, the best equipment, and even know where and how to play the lane-but if execution sucks-the result is usually pretty sucky!
I guess the real challenge is the reaction to travel. If I put it in day-to-day work terms I think it’s easy for anyone to understand. Everyone has a reaction to each day that can create good outcomes or be an excuse to delay progress. Do you know what I mean?
Here’s a peek into the travel saga of understanding that each decision is final. Every day matters. On Thursday I had to travel from DFW to OKC so that I could fly right back to DFW and on to COS. (Long story; I’ll not bore you with the details). I was distracted and on the phone when I left the house and when I arrived at DFW I realized I left my bag in the garage!
The good news is that my husband, “Saint Jerry”, met me at DFW when I returned from OKC back to DFW so that I had my bag for the COS trip. This trip, by the way was amazing, I was at the Air Force Academy working with the Food Service team at Mitchell Hall … INCREDIBLE opportunity. However, I flew first class and did not say no to the wine that they insisted I have with dinner. OH this is after the snack of warm nuts. I can’t take those calories back … they count!
I won’t bore you with the food details of Friday. My choices were marginal at best. Saturday was not much better. I traveled home from COS. When I arrived at the airport, had a grilled chicken salad –good so far — but just wait! I had salsa as my dressing for this salad so you can only guess what else I had. Chips, of course!
Then the world came to a complete end! I accidently posted a question as my status update on Facebook, in PUBLIC, asking someone I love dearly a question about a very private situation. OMG, I thought I was texting to their phone. I did not realize the communication was on Facebook. A dual meltdown ensued. I did not have the techno savvy about how to clear my status right away. It was 18 minutes of torture for both of us. OMG, to say the least. It did get cleared. I was just hysterical that I had screwed up that bad. Although we were able to clear my status, I can’t take it back that I goofed up big time!
I had two glasses of wine on the plane and two packages of snack mix (they are 130 calories for each package and the wine is 100 calories per glass). That’s 430 calories I can’t take back.
Did I mention what a beautiful morning it was in COS? It was amazing. I wish I had stayed present with those glorious mountains and ignored the text messages and the Facebook updates.
Once I arrive back home we land at the A terminal. I had driven myself to the airport; and if you remember I forgot my luggage and had to meet JD after I flew to OKC and back. I was a little concerned that I did not know where I was parked but thought it was on the D level of the C terminal around gate 7. I take the tram over to C and spend a warm 30 minutes walking the parking lot. Up, down, around-clicking my key thing with no luck. I finally decide that maybe I’m in the A terminal, or wait, maybe I’m in the 1st section of C, or better yet, I’m just an idiot and I need some help. I call my knight in shining armor and with NO hesitation, JD gets in the car and comes straight to DFW to help me find my car. While he’s on the way, I decide maybe I was at C 7, NOT C-17…
I go to the next gate area and spend the time it takes JD to get to the airport looking there. We found the car on the B level around C-21. I was very close but was so convinced I had walked downstairs to get to the terminal level that I guess I just did not go to the B level to look for the car. I swear I looked on all levels. The good news is I got my exercise. JD and I went to Mexican Inn for dinner. We split chicken fajitas. I had 2 corn tortillas, chicken, grilled onions & bell peppers, and of course chips and queso. I can’t tell you that my “can’t take it back” epiphany helps me a great deal with the food thing. But for everything else, I have great focus.
I send encouragement your way to know that each day counts. We don’t get it back. We can’t take back anything. So, make the most of the rest of your week!
