You might wonder what Patti Smith’s memoir, “Just Kids,” the story of her life with artist Robert Maplethorpe has to do with weight loss. Read on for the answer!

One Indian summer day we dressed in our favorite things, me in my beatnik sandals and ragged scarves, and Robert with his love beads and sheepskin vest. We took the subway to West Fourth Street and spent the afternoon in Washington Square. We shared coffee from a thermos, watching the stream of tourists, stoners, and folksingers. Agitated revolutionaries distributed antiwar leaflets. Chess players drew a crowd of their own. Everyone coexisted within the continuous drone of verbal diatribes, bongos, and barking dogs. We were walking toward the fountain, the epicenter of activity, when an older couple stopped and openly observed us. Robert enjoyed being noticed, and he affectionately squeezed my hand.

“Oh, take their picture,” said the woman to her bemused husband, “I think they’re artist.”
“Oh, go on,” he shrugged. “They’re just kids.”

Thus, the title of the book, “Just Kids,” and a powerful reminder that we are not born great, famous, rich or genius. They were “just kids” finding their way. They were beginners. And so are we …

Everyone starts out as a beginner. The people who ‘make it’ are no different than you or me. They reach the top; they reach their goals, because they continuously seek to improve.

The people who “make it” are no more talented than we are; they are no more productive than we are.   They simply reach their goal –they succeed – because they do not quit, because they do not drop out. They seek to improve and in so doing, they do improve and evolve.

When we look at the achievements of successful people, we often experience them in their fully evolved form. We assume that they know more, are more talented, know the ‘right’ people; we assume that they have something that we don’t have. Therefore, they get to succeed. I get to fail?

Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, professor of psychology at Florida State University, has spent decades – the majority of career – studying prodigies, superior performers, geniuses – those who succeed in ways that we think that we can’t.   Ericsson says that …. “For the superior performer the goal isn’t just repeating the same thing again and again but achieving higher levels of control over every aspect of their performance. That’s why they don’t find practice boring. Each practice session they are working on doing something better than they did the last time.”

Can you see how this pertains to us? How this relates to achieving a high level of ‘healthy living’ skills and living? Can you imagine how it would be if you considered each day – whether you were on point or not – an opportunity to improve, to evolve? Instead of thinking failing thoughts that lead you to I quit?

Living a fully evolved life is about seeking opportunities and creating ways to improve.   It’s about experimenting with different options until you find the ones that work best for you, and then – again- improving on those.

Life is inevitably fraught with set-backs, road-blocks, and struggles, but at the end of the day, we do not give up.   We do not stop improving.

For more out-of-the-donut box weight loss thinking, join Our Lady of Weight Loss’s KICK in the TUSH Club!

Spread the word–NOT the icing!
Janice

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