A Thinking Person’s Moment

IF YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT, YOU MUST BELIEVE DIFFERENTLY
To change anything in your life, you must first CHANGE what you BELIEVE about it.
In 2010 my daughter Victoria and I were selected as contestants on “The Biggest Loser” TV show. In the very first challenge, we had to finish a marathon on stationary bikes – that’s 26.2 miles. We had to pedal for our spot. The losers would not continue on the show. I knew it would not be pretty. I was 277 pounds (sexy but overweight). And I had NEVER worked out… NOT A DAY IN MY LIFE.

I started out strong, but by mile 17 I had nothing left. The show doctors pulled me off the bike sobbing as I insisted, “No, I can’t stop!” I couldn’t abandon my daughter who was sweat-drenched and feverishly pedaling for a spot on the ranch. The spot was now out of reach – because of me.

I felt discouraged, embarrassed, and heartbroken. We were eliminated on day one. But, as reality TV would have it, there was a twist. At 4 o’clock the next morning, a production assistant summoned us to go with him. We met the show’s doctor in an empty parking lot. It was cold and still dark outside. He told us to follow him. We did. I could hear other people’s footsteps ahead of me and felt myself walking uphill. The dimly lit trail made it difficult to see where we were headed. I found myself panting, sweating, exhausted, and struggling to stay on my feet. But I kept walking.
When the sun rose over Los Angeles, I could see that we were at the top of a mountain. I had climbed a mountain! I was now looking down on the famous Hollywood sign. The least fit contestant had climbed a mountain.
Once back at the bottom of the mountain, I looked up, and God spoke to me. He said, “If I had shown you where you were going, you would not have gone. You would have talked yourself out of it.”
And He was right. I would not have believed that I could climb a mountain. The belief that I couldn’t would have limited my power, strength and determination. I would have failed before beginning because of what I believed.

Mountains look different to each of us. Your mountain could involve a physical challenge, a failed relationship, a health crisis, feelings of abandonment and loneliness, low self-esteem, alcohol, drugs, food addiction, inconsistency, mediocracy, successes, negative self-talk, poverty or fear. Whatever the mountain, our beliefs can help us conquer it.