Mad Hatter to Alice: “You’re not the same as you were last time. You’re much less muchier. You’ve lost your muchness.” (Lewis Carol, Alice in Wonderland; screenplay adaptation by Tim Burton).
What was that guy smoking?
Actually, silly as he was, he does hit a nerve. We all lose our much-ness now and again. As we’ve said, it’s inevitable that excitement about and diligence toward healthy living can ebb and flow. The real test of fate is how we become much more muchier over time (say that five times fast), allowing each ebb to be a resting place, a launching pad or a gearing up for the jump ahead; where we’ll bound past the place we once stood. “Reculer pour mieux saute” the French call it — take a step back for a better leap forward.
Even Hatter loses his much-ness when enslaved to make hats for the big-headed queen. At first he is intoxicated by the challenge, going wild with hatting — his true passion. But upon realizing he’s been chained to one dimension of his vast creativity, he weeps and bows to impotence. No muchness in sight. What saves him? No excuses for the sake of creative freedom and the promise of happiness. For Alice, it is the same. The only way home and to be happy is to live her truth, no excuses. For both, that means fighting a beastly foe: fear of failure.
“You see,” we often think, “if I act without my much-ness, when I fail, it won’t be because I am incapable but rather because I never really gave it true effort. On the contrary, if I put in all my effort and fail, failure becomes my name. Call me, her royal highness, Madam Failure Less Muchness.” (wow, it’s catching)
Fear and fear of failure are at the heart of all excuses.
Time, schmime. Stress, smesh. There is always something we can do, every day, every hour, to gently improve our well being, our circumstances on the whole in fact. It doesn’t have to be huge, it just has to be. Indeed, as we’ve discussed, huge can be off-putting.
We are not bound by one dimension of wellness. No big headed queen has chained us to one forced act over another. We simply have no excuse given the vast array of healthy options abundant on the buffet table. Further, we are entirely resilient. Put a barrier in our way and we heft our souls over it, H E double hockey sticks or high water. Why should health be any different?
Finally, those who do have a built in, seemingly inescapable excuse, (e.g. the wheelchair bound, the arthritic, and so on) find a way. Paralympics anyone? I just read about a group of young, visually impaired athletes who plan to summit Mt. Everest. I dare you to keep up with them.
Sooner or later time and stress have to stop being our top issues. Sooner or later our lives depend upon it. The vast majority of us MUST move more and eat at least a little better.
Stick to our mantras:
Love yourself, not perfection. One degree of change moves mountains. Be on a continuous spiral up toward optimal health. All progress is good, all forward motion un-retractable. No excuses.
See you on the PATH Ahead.