The Music Inside YOU

The definition of hell is the 'you' that might have been, meeting the 'you' that is...
The saddest words of mouth or pen, are simply these: it might have been...
When will my reflection show who I am inside...
Don't die with the music still inside you...

You know, I have a confession to make. I have to confess that reading through the message boards here or talking to some of you in the chat room, I sometimes get a little discouraged. Why? Because everyone is SOOO focused on their weight! Does that sound odd for a site devoted to low carb eating? Well, maybe it shouldn't! Let me explain.

Of course we're here to "encourage and inform" you. To help you on your low carb journey. To get you through the next stall, plateau or backslide. To answer your questions, and maybe even hold your hand a little.

But the last thing I want to promote is the idea that "you are your weight". If anyone knows that's not true, it's me! I spent years dreaming of being able to just 'step out' of the body that I was living in, because I knew it "wasn't me". I often imagined it - what it would be like to just be able to shed my cumbersome body and be free and light and feel beautiful, like an actor just stepping out of a big heavy costume when the play is over...but in the meantime, I wasn't living in the real world - in the present. I was keeping my talents and dreams and any contributions I could make to others locked up in a prison of my own making! Do you know what I mean? I bet a lot of you do. "When I finally lose this weight I'll..."

I hate to tell you this, but the world needs to hear the music inside you now! It was put there for a reason. You have a song to sing, and something you can do to make your little corner of the world a better place. And I don't care how much you weigh now, or how bad you feel about yourself. Maybe part of the problem is that you KNOW you have the music, and you KNOW you should share it? One thing I'd put money on: when you start singing your song, the people might not listen (or they might even snicker a bit) BUT you'll become empowered. And it will spill over into every area of your life - including your eating.

Yep. Maybe the idea that we all have that "when I lose weight I'll..." is backwards. Just maybe we have to sing our song FIRST. Or at least, sing while we lose. (Is that kinda like "Whistle While You Work"?) Anyway, it can't hurt anymore than some of us have been hurt already. I mean, anyone who's been significantly overweight knows how intolerant and mean others can be about it. But which do you think will hurt more? Taking the risk of being who you are, and stepping out and making a contribution? Or coming to the end and thinking, "If only I'd have..."

I also have this crazy notion that many folks who have "had a weight problem" their whole lives also have something special about them - they have a tender and tolerant heart. Having been put down and made to feel like a sub-species of the human race their whole lives (and yes, welcome to my world) they have a special place in their hearts for the less fortunate, the weaker ones, the "ragamuffins" as one of my favorite authors puts it. If this describes you, you have an especially important song to sing. You can have a very strong influence in the lives of others. You have a special quality that can be very effective in leading others to a place where they can be healed and whole again. And many of you use that quality here on the site. I see it in the encouragement you give each other in the forums, and in the chatroom. I hear about it via email, what some of you do for each other. And I know it's just the beginning of what could be if we all get out there and sing our song fearlessly. Well, almost fearlessly.

I don't really know what's prompted me to write about such a serious topic tonight, but it's been on my heart for a while. I guess part of it is the impending threat of war and the uncertainty that goes with that. Part of it is the desire on my part that my intentions with the site not be misunderstood - that people not think "It's all about the weight", because its definitely NOT. And I guess part of it is just that I've fought this battle with myself, and am still fighting it. I still doubt myself sometimes, we all do. But I also know the power that comes from singing your song! And I know the joy you feel when you hear someone else start singing with you - timidly at first, then stronger...what a chorus we'll be, once we all get going, huh? Can it be that what the world needs is what WE'VE got inside us? You bet it can!

LCandrea
The opinions presented above are completely my own and shouldn't reflect on anyone else's. But I sure think their right.