I have HAD it! ENOUGH with the commercials telling me that it’s not my fault.
IT IS MY FAULT.
And…
IT IS YOUR FAULT.
Does anyone take responsibility for anything any more?
This is crazy!
You can’t lose weight but it’s not your fault.
You can’t find a job and it’s not your fault.
You’re addicted to junk food and it’s not your fault. It’s the potato chip’s fault. Oh. And advertisers. And the evil manufacturers. Probably even the president of the company!
You can’t perform in the bedroom and it’s not your fault.
Your child’s behavior is not your fault.
Your divorce is not your fault.
Your crappy password is not your fault.
Neither is your lousy golf swing.
Even being buried in credit card debt is not your fault.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to blame you for everything that happens to you. Don’t confuse me with the guy who blames the woman who is raped or abused. Don’t think I deny medical evidence of uncontrollable weight issues or physical incapacity. Don’t discount what I have to say because you know people who had ‘this condition’ or ‘that misfortune’…
That’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about being willing to take a little personal responsibility.
Sometimes, when you can’t lose weight, it’s because you don’t really want to lose weight.
Sometimes, when you can’t stop overeating, it’s because you don’t want to stop eating.
Sometimes, when you’re unhappy with the way your body looks, it’s because you’re really not motivated to do anything about it.
Sometimes in life – and I dare say, quite often – it IS your fault!
It’s not because you can’t. It’s because you won’t.
We live at a time when culture and society want to explain away any and every negative experience as just another injustice done to us. We can’t help our reactions. We can justify our actions by what it happening around us or to us.
And none of it is our fault.
Bullshit. (pardon me)
I’m sick of it.
If you haven’t noticed, we live in a world of propaganda. You have to search for real news. You need to dig deep to evaluate whether what you’re hearing is fact, or someone’s interpretation of what happened, or has been deliberately skewed to make you think a certain way.
Children cannot be trusted with the facts any more. They have to be taught how to think, what to think. Powers of reason are trampled in favor of popular thought.
And when I say children, I’m not limiting the definition to preschoolers and early grade school. Middle school, junior high, high school curricula are peppered with propaganda.
Even colleges and universities trample honest reason and debate.
What’s wrong with us?
Being taught what to think. Personal responsibility takes a back seat to being taken care of… because we can’t take care of ourselves?
Is it possible that we can’t lose weight because we eat too much?
Is it possible I eat too much junk food because I enjoy it?
Is it possible I could learn how the body works and make changes to my lifestyle that can help me get and stay healthier than I’ve ever been in my life?
Can you?
I challenge you to try.
In my early forties, I changed the way I ate. I studied, evaluated, and experimented with every popular diet and “eating plan.” I learned that what and how I ate made a difference. I learned that I could eat what I wanted to eat, within reason, but I also discovered that choosing to eliminate certain types of food from my diet made a significant difference in how I felt.
I changed the way I approached fitness. No more run around the racquetball court for an hour and think I’m in great physical condition. I learned that my concept of cardiovascular exercise as a fitness tool was all wrong. I learned why strength training was not just for meat heads and egomaniacs, but an essential part of long-term health.
I eliminated post-lunch drowsiness, my chronically cold hands and feet, and many minor physical ailments. I didn’t get sick as often. I ate more and felt better than ever. I actually even liked the way parts of my body looked that used to disgust me.
I learned that certain people weren’t born with a good metabolism and that I could even change mine.
And I can change yours, too.
Don’t want to change?
Then maybe it IS your fault.
I’m not always this cold. In fact, ask my clients. I never come across like this working one-on-one with them. But I heard “it’s not your fault” one too many times today.
And I snapped.