The Golden Rule

"Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You."

I bet I heard this a million times when I was growing up. My mom always wanted us to be considerate to people- ALL people no matter how they treated us. Of course I didn't always follow this rule or abide by my mother's wishes... but I tried.:)

I generally like to consider myself a nice person. Just call me a people pleaser. Recently, I was talking to another mom, and we were sharing our weight loss struggles. She mentioned that she had formed a facebook page for a group of women who are trying to lose weight. Each week they have a "challenge." The challenges are anything from drink eight glasses of water to exercise five times a week. One week, she proposed the challenge of teaming up with another woman in the form of a buddy system and that they would have to "weigh-in" as a team. Guess what- that week, EVERY single woman lost weight.

Coincidence? I think not. Women are willing to do things when others depend on them. We do it for other people, but when it's just for us, we can't.

Prime example: When I was working out for LA Boxing, I was kicking butt and taking numbers. I was in the gym every day. I was dropping weight left and right. During the two weeks leading up to Fitbloggin'- when I knew the guys from LA were counting on me- I was up and at 'em for 6am classes. I was going tanning, getting my nails done, shopping for cute clothes, and looking like my former self. People were depending on me.

Fast forward to now. I'm in a rut. I'm back to eating horrible and skipping workouts. Old habits have returned. The pressure is off, and when I'm just losing weight for myself- it's not a priority. What gives?

This week, the guy that got me started with LA Boxing e-mailed me to check in. I didn't realize he still follows my blog and he wanted to know how things were going. Today I made it to the gym. I got that feeling that I was letting someone down.

I just wish that someone I was letting down could be myself. When will I care about myself enough to realize that I can't sabotage all of my hard work? I have always lacked confidence. With this revelation, I have realized I will teach my children not one, but two golden rules:

"Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You.
AND
"Do Unto Yourself As You Have Been Doing Unto Others.”

Pleasing others is easy, but remembering that I need to put myself first can be hard. I need to find balance. Tomorrow, I'm making sure that I, myself, am part of my "To-Do" list.