Random thoughts pop into my head like wayward Whack-a-Moles, and the other day, while brushing my hair, not really thinking about much of anything, I remembered a birthday years and years ago. A good friend of mine has a daughter who was about 8 years old at the time. When they came over to bring me my birthday present, my friend whispered to me that she didn’t think I was going to like my gift, but her daughter had picked it out, and she had been absolutely adamant that this was the present for me, and couldn’t be persuaded to pick out anything else.
I laughed and opened the box, expecting a goofy, child-selected present like an action figure or candy necklace, but what I saw left me speechless for a moment.
Weeks earlier, I had been at the mall with my friend, and I saw a necklace I adored. It was simple and pretty, a silver chain with a small, shiny, rhinestone cross, catching light and twinkling like a star. I love crosses but have several, so without even pointing it out or saying anything about the necklace, I decided I already have enough crosses and reluctantly left it right there at the mall for someone else to enjoy.
But there it sat right now, sparkling like mad in a gift box in my hand. I looked up in disbelief and asked, “How did you know?”
No one knew what I was talking about. Neither my friend nor her daughter had any idea I had already seen the necklace or that I loved it so much. In fact, my friend was convinced I wouldn’t like it and had tried to persuade her daughter to find something else, but she kept coming back to that cross necklace and insisting that what was she wanted to give me for my birthday. When my exasperated friend asked her why that particular necklace, she answered matter-of-factly, “Because she needs to sparkle.”
I love her answer, and I love the necklace. That little girl has now graduated high school and lives in the Big Apple, and I hardly get to see her. But every time I see the necklace hanging up with my jewelry, I remember being so surprised to see it in that gift box, and how a little girl decided that I needed to sparkle, ha ha.
What does any of this have to do with weight loss? Not much, I suppose, except the reason that memory popped into my head that particular day is that, years and years later, I finally agree with her: it’s time to show myself and the world just what I am capable of when I decide I am going to do something. It’s time to sparkle!
Sweat & Sparkle 