Thumbs Up

I talk a lot about my process of losing weight and as I do, I try my best to honest about both the struggles and the advantages to it. Sometimes those advantages are quite unexpected. I received one of them today. It wasn't one I wanted.

The van is old and the panels on the doors are a bit loose. To prevent them from coming out completely, we try our best to close the door by opening the window and pulling it shut that way. I've probably done this hundreds of times now. The problem is, today there was some heavy wind. When I was shutting the door, the wind caused it to go faster than it usually does and I didn't move my thumb quick enough to prevent it from being slammed between the door and the rest of the auto.

I can't even explain to you how much this hurt. I think time stopped for a few seconds. Seriously. Ouch.

Anyway, this is where the unexpected benefit to weight loss comes in. Before, when I was fatter, I wasn't able to reach around with my right arm to do things like open the door handle on my left side. But now, as the girth between one side and the other is less, I was able to open the door and free my poor thumb. YAY! I'm sure in days past, I would have had to wait for my roommate to get out of the van and walk to the other side of it and open it for me. This would have trapped my thumb in searing pain for far too long.

For people who have hundreds of pounds to lose, sometimes the process can seem overwhelming. Trust me, I know. There are days when it seems overwhelming to me. There are days when it seems impossible.

Then I have things like this happen, these moments when I can see real progress. Things like this remind me that losing weight isn't something you celebrate when you reach your end goal. It's something that you need to celebrate with every new change. Weighing less than  you did last week is always an accomplishment, even if it's just a small bit less. The journey IS important. It can also be beautiful.