The Struggle Within

I was sent an email today from the Livestrong website that included a letter from the Editor; you can see it here.  It basically talks about those moments, or tipping points, in life especially related to health, where you have a choice to soldier on or pack it in.

I have those moments a lot.  When my family goes out for dinner, I have a choice to go ahead and order the patty melt, add bacon, with fries and a large chocolate malt or the grilled chicken salad w/ light ranch and a glass of water.  When the alarm goes off at 3:30am because its my long run and the kids need to leave early, I could shut off the alarm and go back to bed for another couple of hours or I can get out of bed and run.  I have to admit that I do not always make the most health-appropriate decision, but recently, more often than not, I am making the "good" choice.  When life gets tough, these good choices become a lot harder to make, for me at least.  I want to find comfort in food or sleep.  But again recently, I am finding the comfort in making the "good" choice.

I would like to say that all of this new found fortitude comes from my commitment to a healthy life, to grow old with my wife, and to be there for my children.  And much of it does come from these places.  However, for me, when I make these tough decisions, I am making them because I said I would do this.  I said it here on the blog and I said it to my weight support group. It is this accountability to others that has kept me in check.  I don't like reporting that I have gained weight; I don't like to fail others.  So for me, being accountable to others has helped me to make the right decision.

How do you find the motivation to make the right decision?  Are you still searching for it?  Let me know!