The Beginning...

What?  An elephant?!

I read that one of the first things a trainer teaches an elephant is to put up with being chained to a stake in the ground.  When the elephant is small, it tugs and tugs but is not strong enough to uproot the stake.  It learns it cannot get loose, so it stops trying.  By the time the elephant is full grown, it can still be restrained by a measly chain and stake because it doesn't realize it is now strong enough to be free. 

I think getting healthy is like this for many of us.  Whether losing weight, eating better, or getting into an exercise groove, we've messed up so many times before that deep down we no longer believe we can do it.  Getting healthier becomes a mind game that we’ve taught ourselves we can’t win.  In reality, human beings are capable of great learning, growth, and change.  Thus maybe we weren’t strong enough to do it yesterday, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of it today.  It takes persistence, pulling at that chain around your ankle yet one more time, wiggling it back and forth long enough to loosen the stake.  It means finding ways to be more aware of what works and doesn’t work for you, figuring out how to hold tight to the strategies that help while bravely ditching those that don’t.  It’s actively finding ways to keep motivated. 

Why a blog?

When I was facing a cross-country move as a pregnant newlywed, I started a blog to keep in touch with friends back east.  To my surprise, I discovered my blithering little blog became a new mother’s tool kit.  I realized had to organize and clarify my thoughts in order to write about various ideas or issues, so some blog entries actually improved my parenting.  It was also a great way to start discussions and bring in fresh ideas.  While standing on the playground, I’ve had other parents say to me, “I read your blog the other day, and what helped me when I was in that situation was….”  On especially tired days when I’ve felt at the end of my rope, help sometimes comes from a kind word or a suggestion posted as a blog comment.  In addition, the blog became a way to savor my journey through motherhood as well as a reference source for looking back.  If a blog could do all that for my parenting journey, couldn’t a blog help with my get-healthy journey?

My plan is to blog a few times a month.  Some posts may be essays or personal experience stories.  Others may be just a useful quotation, healthy recipe, or a link to a favorite health-related webpage.  I found some interesting new books that might make for helpful book reviews.  Ideally, the blog will be something of a forum, so I would love to host guest-bloggers.  If you have a story or idea to share, please let me know.

One Last Word About Elephants…

I’ve bounced the idea of “Persistent Elephant” off several friends.  Everybody liked the blog idea but several pointed out that an elephant isn’t exactly an animal that inspires one to be thin.  But that’s part of the point.  A very healthy elephant isn’t going to look like a sleek racehorse or an elegant Persian cat, right?  It still has the rounded sides, baggy skin, and big ears that are necessary parts of its “elephantness,” yet is a beautiful and noble beast in its own way.  In the past, I think in the back of my mind I hoped getting thin would make me at least feel like Julia Roberts, the now-thin me bearing some physical resemblance to tall, leggy, and beautiful.  But I’m not Julia Roberts.  I’m me.  I’m past forty.  I have the body of a woman who birthed a baby.  My skin will always show evidence of the sixty pounds I once gained and lost in my early twenties when my parents died.  When my husband declared my stretch marks were actually “love lines,” it helped me shift my thinking.  The focus is on getting healthy.