Diets suck. And they make Mondays suck. You know why? Because every time I blew it on a diet, Monday was the day I would start over.
Monday was the official start day of the new diet around my house growing up. It happened so often, that it became a joke. We would use the phrase “I’ll start over on Monday” as an excuse to eat whatever we wanted over the weekend.
Sometimes Monday would come and go and nothing would change. But then sometimes things did change, and it was the worst.
I had just spent the weekend eating all my favorite foods and now I was supposed to stop cold turkey? I was supposed to go to Weight Watchers and get on a scale in front of other people?
Ugh.
As life went on and I learned more about myself, it became clear the dieting was not the answer for me. I am so grateful I found recovery in Overeaters Anonymous. No more diets for me. And even though I don’t practice the “I’ll start over on Monday” mantra anymore, I did learn a lot from it.
I learned how to never give up.
My parents are amazing people. They struggle with a lot of things like we all do, but they are both fighters. I saw my parents start over again and again and again. Sure, part of me thought they were crazy to keep beating themselves up like that. I used to think “Stop lying to yourself. We both know you aren’t going to start that diet on Monday.”
But then as I got older it hit me. They aren’t beating themselves up. They are doing what every human was born to do. They are surviving.
They are fighting because it is in their DNA to persevere.
It takes a lot of guts to keep showing up for yourself time and time again. It takes a lot of courage to fall down and get back up again - over and over again. And that is what my parents have always done.
No matter how hard things got, they never gave up. I didn’t realize what I was learning at the time, but now I am so thankful that they instilled that value in me. I wouldn’t be half the man I am now if I didn’t have the value of perseverance coursing through my veins. And that all comes from watching my mom and dad.
My parents would eat ice cream on Friday and start over on Monday. They would get into a fight on Thursday but then forgive each other on Monday.
And guess what, they are still married today. That is perseverance and not something most people are willing to do.
It is so easy to quit.
It is so easy to give up. You can find 10 people around you who will back you up if you decide to quit anything. They will tell you all the reasons you should, how your life is so hard and why it’s not worth fighting anymore.
But inside us, we all know that we can have more. We know that we can do better. That is the human spirit. It is in each one of us instinctually.
Humans fight. We don’t give up.
Every now and then on a Monday I get that same feeling of dread I used to get when I was a kid. I get that feeling of “Here we go again.” And then I remember the truth. I GET to do this again. Monday is a new day. It’s a new chance. Monday is my chance to right some wrongs, to grow and to reach out for the life of my dreams.
It’s Tuesday and I already can’t wait for Monday to come.