SLICE #1- WHAT'S MY WHY?

A week or so ago, I mentioned that I am going to Weight Watchers. I go to the meetings on Saturday mornings at 7:30. The ritual is the same every week. I walk in, starving to death, little blue weigh in book in hand. I look at the Weight Watcher products, and try to decide whether a scale or special measuring spoons, or a $7 box of Vanilla Smoothie Mix is really worth the investment. Most of the time, I stay for the meetings.  The leader, Cheri, might have been a standup comedian in a previous life and is brutally honest about her own weight loss struggles and slip-ups, which is probably why I really like her.

Every week Cheri gives a little pep talk. Last week's pep talk was entitled "What's Your Why?" Why are you trying to lose weight? People had lots of different answers- for their health, getting married, for their kids, so they can wear bathing suits this summer, etc. I think my major reason has to do with control. There are a million things going on in my life that I can't control, or haven't yet taken control of anyway; but my weight, developing healthier eating habits, and working on my writing, is an area I actually can do something about.

I've been thinking a lot about "What's My Why?" as I start March Slice of Life for what I think might be the seventh time, wondering, as I always do, whether I will really be able to pull this off.

There are a lot of reasons not to slice this year.  I have a full time (60 hour per week plus) job. We have a really difficult and unusual situation going on at work right now that is sapping every bit of emotional energy I can muster and leaving me wishing for bed at 7 every night.  I'm teaching a class for our ELA (English Language Acquisition) Department-- it's huge, 31 students, and I'm way behind in responding to their work. I'm pretty much in complete and total mother fail right now.

And yet I will slice. Or at least I will try to slice, because I think I live better when I slice. I pay closer attention to my own life, because I know I will need to put something down on paper. When I am writing, and working on getting better at writing, I'm a better teacher of writing. I've "met" lots of really nice people, all over the world, through Slice of Life. Some of those people write all year long, and I connect with them most Tuesdays.  Other people just write in March, and it's fun to reconnect with them each year. I love getting comments and feedback on my writing.

And so I begin. Not sure I can do all 31 days. But I'm at least going to try.