I’m sitting here at Starbucks with my iced coffee prepping the blog for the week. I wanted to take a minute to talk about the issue of being special after receiving an e-mail from a reader a couple of weeks ago. The e-mail basically told me that I thought I was above everyone and I don’t offer any help to anyone. It ended with a simple question, why do I think I’m so much more special than everyone else?
The simple answer to this questions is no. I don’t think I’m special and I don’t think Willie and I are special. I better be special to some people like my husband, my family and my bestest friends but to a normal person off the street, I don’t think I should be regarded as special.
When our story first captured the hearts of the world, it was a very hard experience for both of us. People were paying attention to us and holding us in higher regard and attention is not something Willie and I handle very well. In fact, I think it made us become more private because we felt like we were on display.
It took us awhile to realize that not sharing our story would be the thing that would ostracize us from people. People are generally interested in what we did, how we did it and what made us make the change. If we chose not to answer the questions or stop to talk to people, people would think we thought we were above everyone else.
The truth: Willie and I decided to lose the weight because we were tired of being fat, but we’re not the only people. The great thing about being able to share our story was hearing so many other stories. There are so many people out there who had made a big change and it’s nice to know we’re not out there in the world alone. I am amazed by people every day because I would never know they went through their own weight loss struggle. We wouldn’t have known that unless we shared our story.
There’s no definite way (unless you’re searching for serious loose skin) that you can pick out people who use to be “fat” and I am constantly amazed by people who share their stories with us. Lots of people have stories, but not everyone was able to share their story.
No I don’t think I’m special because I lost 200 lbs or have a blog or have black toe nails from running or whatever else. But I want to inspire the people who need inspiration and motivation by sharing my continued journey into a new lifestyle so those people can feel special. That is the reason I continue to share my eating habits, work outs, fun times, races, travel, bike rides, sad times and whatever else. Everything you think you can’t be, can be! You can have it all and if I can inspire and motivate…then that will be my job.
