Thursday, July 16, 2009

Hi. My name is Katie, and I am struggling.

As a social worker, I should be used to the idea of people being afraid of change. I know all of the sayings-- old habits die hard. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Blah de freaking blah. So why is it that I'm working on a power point for nutrition class tonight, and I'm completely and utterly discouraged in the process? Because maybe two people will show up. Which would be leaps and bounds in improvement over how many have shown up for exercise group. I can't really complain about that one, because I haven't been going (and I'm supposed to lead it), but after a week of dragging my sleepy body to the church building at 6:30 a.m. to find that I was the only one to do so, I don't feel motivated to set my alarm anymore.

The reason I knew I couldn't become a teacher was because I have great difficulty separating my ability from my expectation of others. Bobby would come home from his Chronic Disease Prevention class every day and tell me the things he learned, and almost immediately, our pantry and our fridge were cleared out and replaced with good things. We started eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every single day, and the information about the benefits of daily exercise far outweighed my desire to sit and watch t.v. when I got home from work. So when others get the same information and file it in an "I don't really care" folder, I get frustrated. And want to kick things. Knowing that probably should have been my red flag that leading a nutrition class and exercise group would be a bad idea.

Last night was my first experience on the Bambinos Ride, which I was told would be 20 miles at 17 mph, no one gets dropped. It turned into a 20 mph ride for 24 miles, which was fine, because it was SO fun. I was a little worried at the beginning, simply because the pace seemed a little slow for me. I was getting bored, but it allowed me to talk to the people riding next to me, which was fun. On the way back, though, the pace increased quite a bit, and it was SO much fun. I can't believe I waited so long to do group rides. Riding 24 miles with other people (see: drafting) is a LOT more fun than riding 24 miles by myself.

Le sigh. Back to the nutrition power point. Someday it'll mean something to someone, right?

4 comments:

Karen Ruth said...

I know we're grateful for all your work! We've changed our eating habits and that lovely Harvard food pyramid is on our fridge as a nice reminder. I'm pretty sure Adam's dad is coming to the nutrition class tonight as well, so you are definitely making an impact on others! As for running...Adam's still planning on attending, but I think I still need a couple more weeks of the run and walk intervals before my body's ready for 28 minutes of straight running!

Kathleen said...

You should email me the powerpoints!!I would like to see them!!!!

Beth said...

Kathleen beat me to it, but you can email me the powerpoints too! :)

i find my word verification, "chesity" to be very funny.

TPlayer said...

I know how you feel. I'm the Provident Living co-chair in my ward and ...no one cares. have people signed up for the class or is it an open invitation to "whoever shows up?" If people sign up, then you have names and the ability to call and personally invite (AKA..remind) them to be there. Kevin goes through this all the time. He and Amy had "India night" that everyone had been asking them to do, and then 6 people showed up.