Mike’s Daily Rant 11/07/2012 Topic: Weight a Minute

Hello my good people! Today is a great day in America for many of of us! I am thrilled that so many people like my daily rant but realize that many people “Claim” that they hate it. I’m ok with those of you that “hate” it and I thank you anyway for at least reading it everyday. Reading is "Fun"damental. It takes a lot of heart and even more energy to participate in something that you “hate” and you aren’t even required to. So for that, I would like to say thank you again for reading it.

Now today’s topic is inspired by a coworker of mine. Her name is Rodretta but we call her Jacko (Her maiden name). We have been coworkers since 2008. She has been an excellent coworker and I even consider her a friend. We share very personal things with each other and even spend time together outside of work. Although all of those things apply to our friendship, these past few weeks I have avoided her.

From 2010 to 2011 she watched my body transform and tells me that I was an inspiration as well as motivation to her. A few months ago she made the personal decision to transform her own body into something different. I have never thought that she needed to lose any weight because she is pretty small and relatively short. She tells me that she would be happy losing around 20 pounds. It is hard for me to imagine what she would look like losing 20 pounds but ultimately people have their own personal goals and their happiness hinges on those goals. I tell her that I support her.

Jacko started her weight loss journey in February and accomplished her goal in April. I am very happy for her and proud that she was able to achieve her goal. She ate well exercised hard and in the process became a runner. She has done several 5Ks and joined a very popular running group here in Atlanta called BGR (Black Girls Run). She is one of the best on the team and lets me know often.

Now I know you must be wondering why I avoid her. I don’t feel like our level of friendship has diminished or anything like that. I just have the urge to avoid her because of our nature of conversation. Yesterday she came to me and told me that she noticed that I was not acting the same to her. She wanted to know if she had done anything to cause this riff in our friendship. After she asks all of the questions about our friendship I tell her that she did cause the riff in our friendship.

I tell her that I am very proud of her for all that she has accomplished and that she looks great and turns a lot of heads in the building. She smiles, blushes and says thank you. I then proceed to explain to her why I avoid her. I tell her that although we both have body transformation and healthier lifestyles in common, that’s not all that I want to talk about. I tell her that she does it so much that she doesn’t even realize it and it is annoying. Her smile turns stern. I proceed to tell her that I don’t mind talking about it sometimes but all the time just bothers me. We can be around other people and they will be on a topic that has nothing to do with health or exercise and she manages to find a way to relate it to her weight loss or MINE! For example a few weeks ago another lady in the building was sharing that for her anniversary her boyfriend took her out to dinner and didn’t go into details about dessert but told us it was good. She started sharing about what she eats for dessert such as strawberries and other fruit because of the natural sugars. She is looking at me and waiting on me to chime in but everyone gets up and walks out. The lady eventually says it was not actually a food and gets up and walks out. I laugh and walk away as well.

I remind her of that incident and tell her that those are the type of things that cause others (Including myself) to not want to talk. She says that she will do better and I believe that she will. She understands now that it was annoying but wishes that I would have said something sooner.

I understand that it is important to share what you know with others especially if it can benefit them overall. I knew this already but have a better understanding now that most advice is unwanted if not asked for. Sometimes advice is unwanted even WHEN asked for but it was much more apparent when she does it. It’s ok to be anxious about sharing your experience about things that you have been successful at. Just remember that your success will be acknowledged and when it is that will be your time to explain your plight. So just weight a minute until that time comes, then shine like a diamond.

MikeMontana1914