Thursday, July 06, 2006

I'm not a Buddhist; I have Buddhist tendencies.

If it wasn't clear, and I don't think it was, the closest religion or spirituality I come to following is Buddhism. I am not prideful, and when I am prideful about something it embarrasses me. I will try to talk myself down to others in order to lift them up, and it is interpretted as me having a low self esteem. (I know, I said I do have it in an earlier post, but I can't give that up and still be me.)

I'm not a perfectly unprideful person or else I wouldn't have this blog, but one thing I really don't care for is the acknowledgement of my changed appearance. If I lose 50 lbs I don't want to talk about how I did it or why I did it, because that's not important. It just...is. My outer appearance reflects my inner peace, and that's that. I am a bit exhausted from the interactions that continue to happen around my workplace about my weight loss. I don't want to gain the weight back just to shut them up, but I'm running out of dialog on the subject.

Could we please switch to the next subject, perhaps instead speaking about The Moral Code*? Thanks.


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*It amuses me that Expert Village thinks of Buddhism as a hobby.

6 comments:

Joanne said...

I have Buddhist tendencies. I've considered becoming Buddhist, but I think I might be too lazy to truly be Buddhist. I also have a problem with the moral code. I'd never get past the first step. I believe in lying as a necessity for a harmonious life.

Nessa said...

People get jealous. By maintaining your weightloss you will be helping them on their paths to enlightenment.

P'nut said...

Hm. I wouldn't consider discussing the methodology for weight loss as being prideful (unless you're being all "hey, fat-asses, look at me! jealous? wanna know how I did it?", which I don't think you are).

Let's face it, sometimes people inquire about how you did it because they've made unsuccessful attempts and are hoping your regimen is something that might work for them.

Here's my line of thinking on the subject (but maybe it's cuz I'm fat):

If weight loss is intentional and there is some sort of program in place to achieve goals, I really don't see any reason not to talk about it.

If weight loss is due to illness, I still don't see any reason not to talk about it.

Either way, the conversation itself might help another person with a situation they might be in.

Poppy said...

I just don't know what I did to lose the weight. If I think really hard I can guess that it's some combo of: no longer drinking milk (and drinking water), having to cut everything up into bite-sized pieces because of braces which makes it take longer to eat and therefore I probably get filled up before I overeat, being expressive on my blog and with my wonderful friends I've made in blogging so that I don't eat to cover up my emotions, and telling my body that I won't be able to heal my back until I lose weight. ... Just guesses, the doctors say I'm not sick. I am *not* exercising, and have no business losing all the weight that I did, which makes it very difficult for me to tell the ladies who are on [insert your favorite diet here] that I didn't really work at losing this weight. That's just obnoxious, but it's my truth. I then must defend myself by promising I've never had an easy time of losing weight ever in my life before and that I don't even know it will stay off. I'm embarrassed to have to tell them what they don't want to hear. I hate it. I don't want to. I'm going to hand out cards that explain the situation from now on.

Poppy said...

Oh, and not drinking alcohol anymore. That's a lotta calories right there, for the days I would drink. But, I wasn't a big drinker, just another thought on calorie reduciton.

P'nut said...

That's okay, it's the truth and you shouldn't worry how others take it. Sure, some folks may be disappointed that you didn't work your butt off... but it may inspire some folks to change just a few small things in their life that might give them a sense of control (i.e. cut back on alcohol, or soda, or chips, etc). Do you know what I mean?

Don't feel bad about how you did it (it is NOT obnoxious) or how others perceive how you did it. How they deal with the information you provide is their issue, not yours. The facts are the facts.

So, maybe a Fact Card you can hand out *is* the right idea! :)