Jan. 1, 2009
Today I resurrect the Oprah effort. After only a handful of entries, I gave up trying to do whatever Oprah says when I realized nobody can do everything Oprah says. Apparently not even Oprah. I mean, think about it. Oprah began 2008 with a road show down in the South someplace, where obesity runs (or waddles) rampant and lots of Americans have lots of bad habits of both body and mind. So to make these sweeping life changes, Oprah brought in reinforcements. I don't think Dr. Oz was there (though he'd certainly be around a lot in '08), but exercise guru Bob Greene showed up, as I recall, wearing nothing but workout clothes and a can-do smile. This, after all, was the kickoff to Oprah's (and our) "best life" ever. Soon there'd be stuff on Oprah's website and products in our grocery stores to keep us living that elusive "best life, " along with Oprah. Sure it was intimidating, but Oprah was so positive and pumped. In track suit and sunglasses, she didn't allow herself a peep of doubt or self-deprecation. Now me, I'm different. I'm not sure I'm a defeatist, but I'm not really a successist, either. I wouldn't dare say anything I do is the "best," which is weird, because at some point in my life, I must've done something better than at other times, which would make it my "best," right? I mean compared to my usual mediocrity. But I'm not aware of when that happened and I certainly never think about how things are going to be the "best." So I wasn't really expecting to have my best life in '08, but I figured if I'd do everything Oprah said, then maybe things would at least be heading in a more Oprah-like upward direction. But then I got too far behind. It got hard. I got discouraged. I figured I'd blown it. And then I gave up. But here's the thing I wasn't expecting -- Oprah blew it, too. She didn't have her best life, either. At least not in the sense she and Bob Greene were talking about last January. I didn't want to say anything, but I noticed, as the months of '08 started to fly by, Oprah wasn't getting any fitter. Despite those "best life" logos on our frozen vegetables and Lipton tea, there was no discernible improvement in Oprah's physique. For whatever reason or combination of reasons -- from the demands of the Obama campaign to the school in South Africa and who knows what else with dogs and thyroids and Steadman and Gail -- Oprah wasn't at her best. In fact, I was starting to think she was getting heavier. But I (and perhaps she) didn't want to admit it. Then came the confession: Oprah was back up to 200 pounds. That's a horrible thing for any woman to admit. I still don't want to admit that one morning more than 10 years ago I too saw the scale's needle kiss the 200 mark, even though I lost a bunch of it later that same day when I delivered my second baby. But Oprah was willing to come clean. She bared all in a way few of us could ever do.
Today I resurrect the Oprah effort. After only a handful of entries, I gave up trying to do whatever Oprah says when I realized nobody can do everything Oprah says. Apparently not even Oprah. I mean, think about it. Oprah began 2008 with a road show down in the South someplace, where obesity runs (or waddles) rampant and lots of Americans have lots of bad habits of both body and mind. So to make these sweeping life changes, Oprah brought in reinforcements. I don't think Dr. Oz was there (though he'd certainly be around a lot in '08), but exercise guru Bob Greene showed up, as I recall, wearing nothing but workout clothes and a can-do smile. This, after all, was the kickoff to Oprah's (and our) "best life" ever. Soon there'd be stuff on Oprah's website and products in our grocery stores to keep us living that elusive "best life, " along with Oprah. Sure it was intimidating, but Oprah was so positive and pumped. In track suit and sunglasses, she didn't allow herself a peep of doubt or self-deprecation. Now me, I'm different. I'm not sure I'm a defeatist, but I'm not really a successist, either. I wouldn't dare say anything I do is the "best," which is weird, because at some point in my life, I must've done something better than at other times, which would make it my "best," right? I mean compared to my usual mediocrity. But I'm not aware of when that happened and I certainly never think about how things are going to be the "best." So I wasn't really expecting to have my best life in '08, but I figured if I'd do everything Oprah said, then maybe things would at least be heading in a more Oprah-like upward direction. But then I got too far behind. It got hard. I got discouraged. I figured I'd blown it. And then I gave up. But here's the thing I wasn't expecting -- Oprah blew it, too. She didn't have her best life, either. At least not in the sense she and Bob Greene were talking about last January. I didn't want to say anything, but I noticed, as the months of '08 started to fly by, Oprah wasn't getting any fitter. Despite those "best life" logos on our frozen vegetables and Lipton tea, there was no discernible improvement in Oprah's physique. For whatever reason or combination of reasons -- from the demands of the Obama campaign to the school in South Africa and who knows what else with dogs and thyroids and Steadman and Gail -- Oprah wasn't at her best. In fact, I was starting to think she was getting heavier. But I (and perhaps she) didn't want to admit it. Then came the confession: Oprah was back up to 200 pounds. That's a horrible thing for any woman to admit. I still don't want to admit that one morning more than 10 years ago I too saw the scale's needle kiss the 200 mark, even though I lost a bunch of it later that same day when I delivered my second baby. But Oprah was willing to come clean. She bared all in a way few of us could ever do.
Tyra Banks may run around her talk-show stage in a red strapless one-piece to prove how honest she is about her body, but Oprah was even more naked with us. She exposed the DIFFERENCE between her fit self from a few years ago and her present shape on the cover of O -- Ouch! Self-inflicted sackcloth! Hester Prynne only had to wear her scarlet letter around the neighborhood. Oprah wore hers on a national magazine!
Once again Oprah has inspired me. I fell off the wagon and hid, but she fell off the wagon and went full-body-shot. I still have much to learn from Oprah Winfrey. About honesty. About getting back on that horse. So once again I'm resuming the cause I abandoned with such cowardice. Here I go again. On this the first day of 2009 I declare myself ready to do whatever Oprah says. For one year. Until it gets hard. Well, at least I'm working on the honesty part.
Once again Oprah has inspired me. I fell off the wagon and hid, but she fell off the wagon and went full-body-shot. I still have much to learn from Oprah Winfrey. About honesty. About getting back on that horse. So once again I'm resuming the cause I abandoned with such cowardice. Here I go again. On this the first day of 2009 I declare myself ready to do whatever Oprah says. For one year. Until it gets hard. Well, at least I'm working on the honesty part.
No comments:
Post a Comment