Whyis it not socially accepted to simply take small steps and improve ones self? We seem to be living in an all or nothing society. You cannot simply cut down on something and get a pat on the back. You have to go cold turkey. I hate it when people go out of their way to emphasize this point and rain on somebody else’s parade.
You know the type of person. The person that if you tell them you are up to drinking six glasses of water a day compared to the two you were drinking last month they think it is their duty to tell you that you should be drinking eight. The person that if you tell them you walked for twenty minutes this morning they think it is their duty to tell you that you need to do at least thirty. The person that if you tell them you only drank a twelve pack over the weekend compared to your usual intake of a case tells you that you are drinking too much.
I personally believe in taking small steps in life and patting myself on the back as I go along. When I went from drinking almost nightly to only on the weekends, I gave myself a gold star and a smiley face. When I stopped getting my value meals super-sized, I danced a jig. When I traded in regular coke for diet coke, I did the running man.
I think that the reason that so many people fail in trying to improve themselves is that they try to do it all at once. A lot of the time, they are afraid of what people will say if they see them trying to improve slowly. Nobody wants to be the fat person ordering a diet coke with his or her Big Mac. Nobody wants to stand in the bank line for ten minutes to put five dollars in their savings account. The reason that no one wants to be this person is that he or she knows that he or she will here chuckles in the background.
I have been doing my improvements little by little. I traded in my double cheeseburgers with only Mac sauce, lettuce and pickle for grilled chicken wraps with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, pickles, and bell peppers. I traded in my French fries for vegetables and soup. I traded in my regular coke for diet coke. I traded in my chips for low fat popcorn. I traded in my sausage biscuits for cheerios and fresh fruit. I traded in my nightly beer for ice water. I traded in my Twix for pineapple chunks in their own juice.
I am used to it now but I did not do it overnight. It was hard. I had a couple of lapses. It took a little getting used to especially the grilled chicken wrap on the wood. I had to do it as Bruce Almighty did his dog when he was training him to use the restroom. I started out getting the wrap with mayo, cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Then I took off the cheese and added the olives. Then I took off the mayo and added the bell peppers and pickle. That is what life should be about baby steps in the right direction.
