Cage Free

Eowyn: I fear neither death nor pain.
Aragorn: What do you fear, my lady?
Eowyn: A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them...

My apologies to Tolkien because I'm sure he didn't have someone like me in mind when he wrote the brave, sword-wielding Eowyn.  But, still, I know a little something about being locked in a cage.  Worse, mine wasn't a fortress of iron and stone suffered at the hand of a sworn enemy.  I built my own dungeon, cells not just of fat, but bulging from excuses, hopelessness, and yes, acceptance. 

When you are behind that wall, it is so hard to believe that you can choose not to stay.  But, you can.    So, although today you might see yourself out of breath, exhausted, and weak; today your hips, knees and feet might ache or falter don't think for one second think that you have to concede.  Remember  that even the smallest steps can get you wherever you want to go, but stop wishing, wishing is useless.   So, start small.   I spent so long treating my body as my enemy.  Even if I ate wisely and exercised regularly I was sure that out of sheer spite I would still be fat.  I couldn't trust physics on a grand scale.  That's ok.  I started believing with the meagerest of triumphs, a paper cut.  Really, one day I got a paper cut and after a day or two all the sting of it was gone. 

Somehow I knew that no matter what I read, was told, had convinced myself, that energy to restore me was there all along, an undeniable truth.  The rest--all traps, diet propaganda, and suddenly...all their sting was gone... no more cage.