Numbers, Numbers
There are a variety of numbers which you need to be aware of in some manner or another. You may commit some numbers to memory. Others you may record. You have cell phone numbers, credit card numbers, driver’s license numbers, and Personal Identification Numbers, house or apartment numbers, numbers representing special dates like birthdays or anniversaries, zip codes, and computer codes just to name a few. Some people absolutely love numbers. Statisticians, mathematicians, scientists, meteorologists, financial advisors, and accountants, for example. Perhaps, you are not exactly a big fan of numbers. You might feel the only need you have for keeping track of numbers relates to balancing your personal checkbook or adding up your golf score.
Nevertheless, how you react to certain numbers is always fascinating. Some numbers make you feel happy, sad, anxious, excited, frustrated, or depressed when you see them. Just face it, you cannot avoid them. You watch numbers on the clock all day long. From your morning wake-up time, to class time, to work time, to break time, to meeting time, to “quitting” time, to game time, and to show time, your day always revolves around numbers. If you turn on your radio, television, or computer you are bombarded with numbers. You hear everything from numbers involving stock prices to gasoline prices, to numbers indicating high and low temperatures for your local area, to lottery numbers, and the never ending flow of numbers from sports scores and various polls. There are poll numbers for just about anything you can think of. Some people regurgitate poll numbers faster than we can possibly digest them.
So, I offer you a taste of my own survey to amass some polling numbers. What number of you exercise 3-5 days per week for 30-60 minutes? What number of you would identify red, black, white, or blue as your favorite color to wear during exercise? What number of you have a workout partner or personal trainer? What number of you have a gym or health club membership that you have not used in the past 6 months? What number of you prefer to exercise in the morning? What number of you don’t think playing golf is a workout? What number of you skip exercise to view the number one rated sitcom on T.V? What number of you define yourselves by a number? What specific number could I be referring to?
Well, it is neither your I.Q. nor the number of dollars sitting in your savings account. No, this particular figure is almost branded on the front and back of your body like your favorite athlete’s jersey number or a tattoo you wish you could have removed. I’ll give you a clue. How many of you step on a scale multiple times throughout the course of a day? You guessed it. The answer is that 
sometimes annoying, ever present, and perhaps, never changing number that you recognize as your weight. Have you ever considered the weight of this problem? I have pondered it. In my vast experience as a fitness professional, I have counseled many individuals who, like you, are stuck on a number. You’ve developed an addictive habit in which you cannot wait to check your body weight? I understand how it works. You jump on the scale before, during, and after you exercise. Perhaps you have a scale next to your bed, one in the bathroom, and one by the front door. It’s just another number. But not to you. You literally think that you are defined by that number.
Well, I am here to tell you emphatically that you are not! I don’t know the depths of your struggles, nor the specific details in your case, but I know it has not been easy for you. I believe that everything can change for you. But it will not occur while you are standing on that scale or because of the fact that you are obsessively monitoring your weight. I believe in miracles! I have seen them in my own life and in the lives of so many people I have encountered. “Most of us have two lives; the life we live and the unlived life within us.”-Steven Pressfield
Please don’t let that number hold you back from enjoying your spouse, your family, your friends, indeed, your very life. Your days on this earth are numbered. That number is not one you can possibly ever know. If somehow a number on a scale makes you feel unimportant, unattractive, or unworthy of attaining blessings, please do not procrastinate. With all of the genuine concern of my heart, I offer the following advice. Stop standing there! “You don’t need an invitation before you start moving in the direction of your righteous goals. You don’t need to wait for permission to become the person you were designed to be.”-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
That special person is so much more than a number. I don’t judge you. Please do not be so hard on yourself. “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and before you know it, you’re doing the impossible!”-unknown You don’t need that number to change dramatically before you begin to permanently change your world. Weighing yourself every day is not a necessary or crucial part of your personal fitness journey. Drop the scale from your life and you will be free to live.
So, what’s your favorite number?