And I felt free.

Like a bird who had been caged for far too long.

I felt free.

I took my opportunity at a door left ajar.

I felt free.

I could see it, an open window basking in sunlight.

I felt free.

I could get there. I could be on the open breeze.

I was free.

 

That was something I wrote when I got out of the 240s into the 230s. There was an astounding freedom with knowing that weight loss was possible. I could achieve it. I just had to capitalize on everything in front of me. I could do it, I really could. My dedication and relentlessness paid off in a form that I didn’t expect a few days ago.

Having sacral agenesis (related to another syndrome) at birth, my daughter is missing a few vertebrae and her tailbone. She is lucky in that she has full mobility and we are so grateful. She has taken weekly PT to work on balance, stamina, and muscle building considering there is nothing solid for her muscles to connect to. On Thursday she shattered 3 of the goals set for her a year ago. Obliterated them. Why? Because this kid puts EVERYTHING into this hour every week. She does exercises at home, every day. She never lets anything make her feel not good enough. Every time she loses her balance she gets more motivation to try it again instead of giving up. She never feels sorry for herself, she doesn’t know how. All she knows is hard work leads you somewhere. I told her through a cascade of tears how very proud of her I was, how inspirational her journey is to me. She never takes the easy way out, ever. She told me that she sees me go to the gym every day and put in hard work every day. I’ve been going strong for six months, only illness keeps me from my daily hour. I was so proud of her and also proud of myself that I may be a small reason why she is so dedicated to making sure she is doing everything she can to help her body the best it can be.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about being the strongest, or being skinny. It’s about every day. That effort you give every day. If you give your absolute best, then you can rest happy on that. If you laid it all out there, and there’s nothing more you can do, then you can be good with that.