Monday Motivation: Fishy Advice

July 27, 1:03 PMSouth Carolina Weight Loss ExaminerKrista Leopold

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the South Carolina Weight Loss Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Today's motivation comes from a forgetful little fish who played a big part in an unforgettable movie. The sweet but absent-minded Dory helps a clownfish search for his son in the Disney-Pixar hit Finding Nemo. When Marlin is feeling that his cause is hopeless, when his motivation is waning, Dory says, "Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down do you wanna know what you've gotta do?" Marlin replies, "No. I don't wanna know." Dory begins singing "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim."

Aren't we like Marlin sometimes? Ready to give up on our plans for great things because of a setback or a comment that gets us thinking it can't be done. Well, like the saying goes, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." If you keep sitting there, moaning about how hard it is, how it's impossible, and how someone else is to blame, well... you're missing your shots. But, if you listen to Dory, and just keep swimming, eventually you will find yourself some place that is better than where you are right now. Sure, you might spend some time in the belly of a whale or racing through a sea of jellyfish. But life will always have challenges and there will always be difficulties to face. You can choose to be like Marlin -- mopey, mad, and stuck in the same spot -- or you can choose to be like Dory, keeping a level head and your eye on the goal in spite of your hardships.

If you're having trouble with my metaphor, allow me to spell it out: there will always be excuses to give up on your diet or stop hitting the gym. If you want to succeed, you have to rise above the excuses and go through the motions even when your heart isn't in it. Eventually the bad habits will die and the good habits will take over. Everyone could lose weight if every day of the diet were as motivated as the very first one. The people who actually do lose weight are the ones who think like Dory, and just keep swimming.