Letting go – or GO AWAY for a week or two!

Little did I know that all my (well intended) efforts to get the family to eat healthy and exercise more were in vain. I pushed, I was the example, I poked and annoyed them all. And then went away for two weeks for work.

Leading up to my departure, the rest of the family was having hallucinations about a dinner plan alternating McD, Subway and pizza, NO carrots in sight (read my previous blog and you will know why), eating in front of the TV every night and on they went.

Returning – with a slight fear of seeing a family with their teeth falling out, pimples all over their pale faces – I was amazed to be welcomed by the most happy bunch ever! They had had no one harrassing them, had kept a smooth flow.

I realised that you can only set goals for yourself and lead with your example. But you can’t force the horse to drink. You can help them put words to what healthy means for them – and what they could fancy doing that would be fun. But don’t think YOUR world and ways are right for everyone else. Point taken.

The happy ending is that they actually over some months following started their own ways of healthier living – so maybe TV dinners and two weeks of fastfood (OK one cooked meal I think) wasn’t that inspiring either.