The Glass Mountain

When I was a child, I read a fairy tale about a glass mountain. The evil king had placed his beautiful daughter at the top of the mountain. In order to win her the prince had to climb the mountain - which was as slippery as ice - and give her a golden apple.

The way I "work on" myself reminds me of that glass mountain. I make progress so long as I keep trying, but in order to keep trying, I have to remember that two steps forward and one back is truly progress.

I come up with theories, or plans, or ideas, or motivations, and I work with them for a week or two or four, maybe - and then they fade away. Fortunately, with each of these mini-efforts, I end up with the seed of a new habit or understanding. Each seed keeps that net number of steps on the positive side.

Right now I'm sliding back from the two-fruits-a-day and adequate exercise plan I've been on for a month or so. I've been through this many times, though. I know that what I have to do is find a little inspirational reading, get back on the elliptical machine, and buy some fruit before I go to work in the morning.

I've been eating ice cream and packaged, prepared food. That's a good sign to me that something is troubling me. (Years ago, I drank my emotional concerns/unrest - or they went up in tobacco smoke. Now, I eat them - literally.)

I think by writing this blog I'm making myself look at some things that I haven't thought about for a very long time. Overall, I think that's probably a good thing, even when it's not particularly comfortable. But I need to make sure I handle the effects intelligently - and a quart of ice cream does not qualify.

Writing here isn't always as easy as I thought it would be. It makes the glass mountain a little more slippery. But on the whole, that's good, it keeps me from getting lazy - and as I recall, that's part of what blogging was supposed to do for me.