On the Slow Road

I watched the season finale of Biggest Loser with Kevin last night. The winner was a woman who lost nearly 50 percent of her body weight (over 100 pounds) in six months. She was reed thin and incredibly proud of herself. As she should have been, I suppose.

This really got me thinking though. About myself. I have this tendency to want to barrel into whatever I do. I jump in with both feet and take off at a sprint, then run out of steam before I even really give getting started a chance. Shows like Biggest Loser really highlight the fact that I'm clearly not the only American who has this tendency. We're brought up to believe that big things can happen very quickly to some people, and that in the Land of the Free, that some people could be you! It's the American Dream, right?

But what if the new American dream is to slow down a bit? Be the tortoise instead of the hare. I'll be forty in three and a half years. (Yes, when we're counting down to the big four oh, that half does in deed matter!) If I lost just one pound a week from this week until that one, I won't be overweight anymore. It won't happen in six months, but I'll get there. Maybe losing ten pounds a week isn't really all that necessary in the long run.

And if I just sit down and write a page a day, I can write a couple of novels by my 40th birthday.

If I save $1 a day, I can celebrate my fortieth as a fit novelist on a beach somewhere in a bikini.

Slow and steady. That's my new motto. One little day at a time.