After enduring multiple tragedies with her children, Pamela H. Hansen decided she needed a better coping mechanism than food. One morning, she decided to start walking and through baby steps, lots and lots of baby steps, eventually losing over 100 lbs (without surgery or pills) and ran a marathon. She has run many more as of the book's publication.
My motivation was dragging when I picked up this book- and I am glad that I did. Seeing how she overcame her challenges, learned and grew from them was very encouraging. I learned to be patient with myself- these things don't happen overnight. I'll paraphrase: Many of us don't want eventually- we want it now OR we really don't want it at all, because it means changing the way we live: exercising and eating right.
"At times we get discouraged, but we hang on and make good decisions anyway. There are times in our lives when perseverance means to simply keep moving. We aren't even thinking about gaining any sort of strength from the trials in which we presently find ourselves; and most often we don't realize our increased inner strength until later down the road, after we have had a chance for reflection."
She includes many quotes and stories that she found motivational, as well as stories of the challenges of being obese- many heartbreaking. Oftentimes, we are much, much crueler to ourselves than we would ever, ever be to another human being. Hansen speaks about learning to love and accept herself, and her love for those around her increased as well.
This great quote by Gordon B. Hinckley she draws upon: "You did not come into this world to fail. You came into the world to succeed... You will be amazed at what might happen when in faith you take a step forward." (One Shining Hope)
I appreciated how she brought Christ into her struggle and applied the atonement to her situation. Great read. Buy it at Deseret Book.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.