Being Inspired Leads To Being Inspiring

When you've lost 150lbs by simply eating better, eating less and exercising more, you get people who will tell you that you are their inspiration. Heck 10 months ago I would have been inspired by me too. So every now and again -- often enough to keep my ego nice and inflated, thank you all -- someone will tell me that I'm their inspiration to lose weight or exercise more or just generally try to lead a healthier life. I won't lie. This is extremely flattering. I mean really? Who wouldn't feel even a little bit special after being told that someone else looks up to them? Not me! I feel amazing. You bet I get an extra swing in my step and twinkle in my eye when I read those magical words. Sometimes even tears in my eyes, happy tears of coarse, cause it makes all my hard work worth it to hear that others notice. But see there's something funny about being an inspiration to people. It means you have to be -- well - - inspiring . When your good friend tells you that she pushed through her zumba class when she wanted to give up, or walked to the store instead of driving, or simply ate a salad for dinner instead of a hamburger all because she thought of you and that helped her take just one more step... well you gotta acknowlege that THAT is inspiring. And that is when you start to ask yourself: When was the last time I pushed myself past what I thought were my limits? Not since last week or maybe it has been longer - UH OH - fixing that now! What did I do to get stronger yesterday? Not a whole heck of a lot, man I am slacking, not cool! Why wasn't I pushing harder? I refuse to get lazy - I need to kick my own butt into gear! And that's when you realize that being an inspiration is a two way street. Sure it's nice having people tell you have proud they are of you and how awesome you are - And come on, who doesn't want to hear that? But it's more than that. It's reading about your friend who fell off the wagon when her friend died but then, once her heart had healed a bit, got right back on and is pushing through. It's reading that someone you know, who was soooo very close to giving up, didn't give up and instead pushed themselves and tried a new workout routine or a new food and proved to themselves how strong they really are. It's about my blog readers and my facebook fans who have followed me and rocked their own weight loss journeys and met their goals. And that's just to name a few. That right there, is what I call inspiring. So if I am one of your inspirations, and I am so incredibly flattered if I am, you should know that you, my strong-amazing-persistent-awesome friend, are definitely one of mine!!! *share your story here to inspire others! * www.justweighinginandmovingon.blogspot.com (click on inspiration of the week) www.weighinginonfood.blogspot.com