Good Motivation

I know I can be very lazy. I usually have to have a good reason for doing almost everything. When I teach, I find the same thing. If my students understand the advantage of doing something, they will be much more eager to do it. I have experienced this type of motivation lately.

On December 2 I will be going to the Shouldice Hospital north of Toronto. It is one of the top facilities of its kind in the world. When I am there, I could be mingling with people from who knows where. Since the 1950s they have performed hernia operations and nothing else. Many of my acquaintances have heard about it.

When I first got my appointment, I had to fill out a questionnaire. I filled out the information on my measurements and how much I weighed. I sent it in.

The news that came back that I had to lose weight – a lot of it. If I arrive in Toronto for the operation and I don’t weigh 190 pounds, they will send me home.

I had told them I weighed 210 pounds, so 20 pounds didn’t seem too bad until I stepped on the scale. The needle pointed to 228. That’s 38 pounds I had to lose.

Although my hernia is not very serious, that painful pinch I get from time to time reminds me that it has to be corrected. That brief bit of pain also motivates me. It tells me to keep pressing on.

Although I haven’t reached my goal, I am almost there. I have lost over 30 of the 38 pounds. I haven’t been as light as this since the early 1990s, if then. A belt I bought in 1999 can’t be tightened any more. Some of my clothes are rather baggy.

While the initial motivation was getting to the correct weight for my operation, something else has replaced it. Knowing that I look and feel better has taken over. My intention is not to stop at 190 pounds but to continue reducing to a weight I had in my mid-twenties. I am actually looking forward to it, especially since I will not be under the time restraint I am under right now.

Eight more pounds to go in three weeks! I can do it. If I want my operation, I have no choice, do I? Now, that’s motivation.