Focus

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Me:  Nervous as hell
Mark:  Chill as can be

Back in 2012 at a family reunion my cousin Mark and I were talking about the upcoming Las Vegas Half Marathon.  Shortly after that I got a message from him that he'd entered and was going to run it as well.  So, we bonded over that and hung out together at the start line.  I was a mess of emotions.  Mark was as cool as they come.  Anyway, a few days after the race we traded messages again and I admitted I was disappointed in my performance and he gave me a pep talk that I will never forget.  I had the pleasure/honor of having another one of those memorable conversations with him on Saturday.

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We were talking about weight loss and I recalled a story that my friend Diane has told me a few times.  After Diane reached Lifetime status she asked our leader, Karen, if the journey ever got easier.  Karen replied that it didn't.  This is one of the few times that Karen and I disagree.  As I was telling this story I said that I think if we focus on the things that we shouldn't have (or the portion sizes that we shouldn't have) then of course it remains difficult because that's all we want.

Mark replied that whatever you focus on will grow.  I couldn't get this thought out of my head and
knew that I wanted to write a blog post about this.  I truly believe that if we focus on the good things -- like being able to run a half marathon then the journey becomes easier.  I'm not saying that it won't be difficult to stare down a pan of brownies or cookies but I'm also not saying that you have to avoid the brownies or cookies completely either.  In fact, I say have them.  Just not as much as you would have before and then focus on something else to get your mind off the temptation.

What will you focus on to get you closer to your goal?