There are so many ways in which we can make the world a better place. We can volunteer at a community outreach, be more environmentally aware, donate money, help the homeless; countless ways in which we can try to raise the collective bar of humanity so as to promote love, kindness, and good will to all.
I’m not thinking on quite that grand a scale here. I’m talking about something much, much smaller…and some people might say that what I’m suggesting is ridiculous, and others will shudder in horror at the thought of it.
THROW OUT THE SCALE!
Now I’m not saying that the two are not related, but somewhere along the line we lost sight of what our health and fitness goals should be and started to equate fitness with losing weight. And as such, the bathroom scale has become legend. It has morphed into the enemy. This seemingly innocuous measuring device has elicited more tears, frustration, aggravation, sadness, and despondency than anything else ever has before. And the worst part of the whole thing is that it is all self-inflicted! We do it to ourselves! No one makes us get on the scale, no one forces us to weigh ourselves. But time and time again, that’s exactly what we do.
It has morphed into the enemy.
We are looking for verification and validation that our wants, needs and desires as well as our hard work is finally paying off. Now this isn’t going to be a discourse on muscle weighing more than fat (which it does) or a discussion on feeling better versus weighing less. We’re not even going to talk about water weight and the daily fluctuations your weight undergoes all day long due to intake and temperature and activity.
I’m talking about starting your day. Getting up in the morning and getting ready to attack the day, eager to dive in and make a difference; help others, be kind to your fellow man, and smile everywhere you go. And then you step on the scale. And in an instant, everything changes. Roses become some sort of nasty potpourri and your fellow man can just basically go suck it. You don’t understand why your “number” is where it is, it wasn’t like that yesterday and after everything you did it certainly shouldn’t be like that today! And just like that, our perspective shifts and we lower our energy by thinking and feeling in a negative manner. And we leave and go out into the day and carry that energy with us. That’s no way to start the day.
Be your own barometer of wellness.
So, my suggestion is one which will help everyone (well, everyone except the people selling bathroom scales). Don’t get on the scale. You know how you feel, you know how your clothes fit, and you know how you look when you stand in front of a mirror. You don’t need the scale. Be your own barometer of wellness. Let validation come from within yourself and from the people around you who love you.
So, do yourself a favor, and do all the people you see every day a favor too. Throw out the scale. You might be surprised at what happens.
