This week's episode speaks to how hard ranch life can be.... way more than just physically but emotionally and mentally. Being confined to a space without any outside contact takes its toll on a person. That fourth week can be brutal. You've been gone long enough to really miss your loved ones back home. You are getting to know yourself under EXTREME circumstances without the benefit of any usual coping mechanisms or comforts AND doing it all on camera. Overwhelming is an understatement.
Because these people, myself included, chose to take on a very public transformation, it's easy to think of the contestants in terms of characters rather than people. But that's just it.... we are all just regular people trying desperately to change lives by any means necessary. As I watched previous years of The Biggest Loser, I thought, wow, that looks really hard. Little did I know just how hard it was until I experienced it firsthand.
Yet again I am inspired by the strength of the human spirit. Koli and Sam... WOW! What heart! Not only did they will themselves up 120 feet to get the opportunity to reconnect with family, when they pushed that wheelbarrow up the hill I felt like I was right there with them. How many times in life do we think we can't do something only to find out, yes, we can? Or do we stop before we get the taste of success? So many times in life we are faced by obstacles that seem insurmountable. I firmly believe there is very little we cannot overcome with a little grace and a plethora of determination.
Of course it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't quote Jill. The fact is sometimes we will fail... but that's okay. "If you aren't failing, you aren't trying hard enough." Sometimes in the midst of our failures it's hard to learn that lesson. I vividly remember failing miserably during my first workout. Jill had ahold of me for what seemed like an eternity.... which probably equated to about 20 minutes. The last thing she had me do was hoist my body up while holding onto the treadmill underneath. I was sweating from every orifice of my body, including my hands. As much as I tried, I could not hold onto the bar. Might I add that at one point she was standing on me... I promptly fell. To her credit, I vaguely remember her not putting all of her weight on me, but my own bodyweight was more than I could handle. As I fell to the treadmill more than once, I recall feeling like a complete and utter failure. It wasn't until I was recently working on a speech for the Landry Center that I realized the lesson intended: I failed that day, but that did not make me a failure. Giving it your all and it not being good enough in a particular instance doesn't have to define you. Putting yourself out there and giving it your all when you don't know if you will succeed makes you better. It makes you wonderfully flawed, imperfect, and ALIVE.
My challenge for everyone this week is to REALLY give it your all. With reckless abandon, take a chance. Do something you don't really think you have the ability to do. One of two things will happen... you'll fail and grow from the experience, OR you will show yourself that you have more in you than you think. I pray for the latter!