Adjusting Your Sails: Finding the Realist in You!

By , SparkPeople Blogger

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."William Arthur Ward

I love this inspirational quote! I came across it last week after experiencing some major obstacles here at home. What I love about it, is the words sum up exactly how I have changed my attitude in the last 5 years-- going from one who used to view the world with great doubt and negativity to embracing every obstacle as an opportunity to learn or change direction.

Every morning for the past 3 plus years, I have started my day reading words of inspiration thanks in part to the SparkPeople Healthy Reflection email sent to my inbox every morning and my SparkPeople Day at a Glance Calendar. I am a true believer that motivational quotes help to inspire me to continue on this journey we call life, even when I can't quite seem to see my way out of the fog.

I believe there are three types of people in the world--the pessimist who always finds something wrong with everything around them. The optimist who can be quite charming, but many times be unrealistic in their views. And finally the realist, the one who can take something negative, find the positive from it and still understand that nothing ever goes as planned. While we may not be totally pessimistic, optimistic or realistic in every aspect of our lives, for me I do tend to lean toward one more than the others.

Having spent many years looking at life as a glass half-empty, I am learning to 'adjust my sails'. Although the journey is not always an easy one, I try to live and adjust to the day to day challenges that are sure to arise, not just for me, but my family as well.

In my past attempts at losing weight it was very difficult to find any positives no matter how hard I tried, especially if I knew that I was doing everything perfectly and the scale was not budging. I would begin the journey filled with vim and vigor only to see the flame die within a few weeks due to the changes not being seen on the scale. I let the scale determine my success or lack thereof. This is when I had to rethink my strategy. I decided once and for all that I was staying on this voyage no matter how long it took. That was almost 5 years ago and I am still hanging on.

To me one of the greatest tools in my arsenal for embracing healthy living is surrounding myself with others who share my passion--not just in running, but Pilates, strength training and mostly SparkPeople. I will never underestimate the value of strong a support system. Knowing that others believe in me when I begin to doubt my own abilities is what continues to guide me along this path. This has taught me to no longer look at every negative thing that happens in my life as something bad, but as an opportunity to "adjust my sails."

How do you cope when it comes to your attitude about not seeing the results you expect? Have you found yourself learning to adapt and adjusting your own sails?