The First in a Series of Blogs about Making Life Changes.
Last night I finished Jennifer Weiner's new book "Best Friends Forever" - chick-lit to the core and frankly, a disappointing read. I was, however, struck by one single sentence and it has compelled me to write a series of blogs about making changes.
A detective is trying to track down two girlfriends on the run after one of them flees a hit and run. Jordan Novick wonders what Addie Downs was capable of now and why. He thinks to himself "Maybe she'd faced her own mortality and decided to change her life" (p.299).
Do we really make life changes once we've faced our own mortality or do we just say we're going to make changes and never do?
I'll tell you: when I finished treatment I was gung-ho on making some serious changes in what we ate (I say "we" because I buy and prepare most meals for Bryan and Audrey - so they were making some changes too, like it or not). We were only going to eat organic and follow a food plan from a nutritionist. Nourish our bodies with antioxidants [sidenote: antioxidants are a no-no during chemo and radiation as it helps the cancer cells survive], grass-fed only beef, free-range poultry, green tea, no processed sugar, nothing canned, no preservatives, nothing microwaved, and so on. Have we done this? Nope.
Sadly, having had cancer hasn't motivated me enough to make the changes I said I would. I mostly choose organic produce and dairy when it's available and affordable. I do drink green tea but like coffee better. I hardly ever say no to something sweet and always find a reason to use the microwave instead of the stove or oven. I'm even guilty for feeding my little girl a Mc Donald's hamburger the other day - a sin I said I would never commit!
So where do we go from here? For me: I think it's focusing on making smaller changes in hopes that a bigger change will happen. What do you think?