#509: Are You Allowing Your Weight To Limit Your Fun?

Isn't it amazing how we can see something time after time without it seeming significant then one day while viewing the same thing once more we have an epiphany of sorts and gain a new insight into human behavior? That happened to me this afternoon.

I was at a local bowling center for a practice session . Afterward I had dinner and watched and talked with several friends during their league play. During this time a couple came in to practice. While the man is thin as a rail, the woman is, well, tactfully, a large woman. I have seen her bowl before but watching her today made me wonder how many overweight people allow their excess weight to limit their fun?

This woman is not skilled at this sport but other overweight people are extremely talented bowlers, a number of them national champions.

What they have in common is that they do not let their weight stifle their fun.

One of the bowlers I was talking with told of her overweight mother who was afraid of leaving her house for fear of being embarrassed, thinking others would make fun of her being fat.

Isn't that a shame? That she is allowing her weight to limit her activities?

Not like the woman today bowling with her husband. As I said, she is not a skilled bowler and didn't have a classic approach, just walked up close to the foul line, took a couple of steps and let the ball go. But when she made a good shot and the pins fell the look of joy on her face was a pleasure to see.

She was trying and having fun.

So why don't others, like my friend's mother?

We can understand embarrassment. But how do we convince people like her that they are not being judged? How do we convince them that exercising, bowling, playing miniature golf or other activities will be fun?

If you have an overweight relative or friend, encourage them to get out of the house and join you. Heck, take them bowling. All they have to do is stand at the foul line, swing the ball and let it go. And, like the woman with her husband, sometimes the pins will fall and put a smile on their face.

Above all else, convince them that most people are overweight -- just look around at people at a mall or any restaurant.

Is that a reason though to shut ourselves away from others and from activities we may enjoy?