Going to the gym is hard work, but being fat and unhealthy is harder.

When I quit drinking 4 months ago, I was convinced it was going to be the hardest thing I'd ever have to do. I had been drinking since I was 14 years old. Everyone I know drinks, every social setting I'm in involves drinking and the reality is, I find drinking quite fun! How was I going to give all that up?

Then I decided what was even harder than giving up alcohol was...

Being hungover several days per week.
Getting fat.
Being chronically tired and unproductive.
Lying to people and myself.
Having dull, dry skin.
Spending ridiculous amounts of money on alcohol.
Waking up with guilt.
Having to apologize for things I said and did while drinking.
Getting a DUI.
Being on house arrest.
Paying for SR22 insurance for 3 years.
Having a breathalyzer on my car.
Hating myself.

Hmmm, guess giving up alcohol isn't so hard after all. When I looked at the truth, it was easy to see I was making decisions that made my life harder, not easier. And you know what, it hasn't been difficult at all. I didn't give up any of my friends, or my social life. I actually have much more fun now that I'm sober than I ever did while drinking.

Let's look at being fat and unhealthy the same, pragmatic way. Eating whatever you want and not exercising seems easier than preparing your own food and going to the gym. It's quite enjoyable to eat pizza, ice-cream, nibble on cookies at the office, run through the drive-thru and lounge in front of the TV after a long day at work. All of that seems so much easier than setting your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier to go for a walk. Picking up groceries and cooking seems like way too much work when you have an entire household, career or both to manage. You're right, that is a lot of work! But ya know what's harder....

Dying prematurely.
Feeling uncomfortable in your own skin.
Wearing long sleeves or pants when it's hot outside.
Going on vacation and feeling so self-conscious that you can't get into a swimsuit.
Being diabetic.
Having heart-disease.
Getting cancer.
Unable to walk long distances or jog without being winded.
Having low energy, mood swings and poor quality sleep.
Being on medications and spending thousands of dollars unnecessarily on health care costs.
Lacking confidence.
Hating yourself for letting yourself go.

Guess going to the gym and stopping for groceries might not be as hard as you thought.
If you are choosing to be fat, you are choosing the harder path in life. Just like I was choosing to drink, and for far too many years choosing to make life harder. When you choose to make life harder, you don't only make it harder for yourself, you make it harder for everyone who relies on you.

Life is hard enough without us choosing to make it harder. Yet, that's what we do all the time. We turn a blind eye to the truth because we are looking for what makes life easier at the moment, while totally disregarding how difficult we're making things for ourselves and others in the long-term.

Life is hard but the good news is, you get to choose your hard and once you figure that out, everything seems to get a lot easier.