The 80/20 Rule Rocks!

I remember saying in a previous post that studies showed the average IQ of the British to be 80-now that I absolutely believe-except, of course, the people of Essex, whose average has to be 20. In fact, I've met many who cannot possibly have any intelligence at all; this means that, for each of those people, there are four walking around with an IQ of a whopping - 25!!!!!

One of my friends in Pennsylvania told me that she didn't believe this - and now I can prove conclusively that this is the absolute truth.

My good friend NJ (who lives in the USA) told me that she joined one of those online weightloss groups, and that she lost a lot of weight on this program. It seems to be very sensible, it works, and-best of all-it's free!! So, I joined, since I can stand to lose a few pounds. I haven't had time to set up my page or to join in the forum yet (I still have no internet at home. Bless BT for that), so I rely on NJ for the news.

I spoke with my friend the other day, and she told me that the other participants seem very supportive-except for one, who got on the forum and demanded that everyone else provide her with the motivation to lose weight; apparently she has a huge amount to lose (no surprise, since there are as many obese and morbidly obese people in this country as there are in the USA).

So, how did NJ respond to this? Bear in mind that the other woman has emailed NJ a few times, and provided some of her history. Well, NJ did exactly what I would have done-almost. She emailed the other woman and told her that motivation cannot come from anyone else, but has to come from within. She cannot reasonably expect someone else to be responsible for her weightloss. So, NJ got a vicious email in return, calling her negative, unsupportive, and a few other choice terms, and saying that NJ would now be blocked from her emails. ~And where does this idiot come from? If you guessed Essex, England-you would be right.

NJ remembers all my comments on Essex people - she is a good friend and has been following this blog since the beginning, and I have known her for nearly 20 years, so she also knows that I'm a pretty good judge of people (well, not lately, obviously!!). And we had a very good laugh about this Essex idiot.

What would I have added to NJ's response to the idiot? I would have said that she should get a grip on her life and stop being so precious. I would have said that nobody cares if she puts on a skirt and looks like a whale in a tutu. And nobody is interested if she is being hotly pursued by Captain Ahab and his harpoon, or if her nickname in school was Moby or Orca, or if she can only fit into clothes that have been provided by Omar the tentmaker.

If she wants to lose the hundred pounds she needs to lose, she has to have the desire, the willpower, and the motivation to do it herself; nobody can provide those for her. It would help if she would stop shoving everything that doesn't move and isn't bolted down into that huge mouth of hers (and probably some things that are still moving-which is a very, very creepy thought. Sorry I gave such a visual!).

I know about motivation, determination and discipline: I learned all three over these past two years. If I stop doing the walking, the exercises, if I slack off in any way, I will regress to being where I was before: with no balance system, I stay that way unless I challenge the brain to create new neural pathways so I can, at least, walk without falling over all the time.

Trust me when I say that the big three- motivation, determination and discipline-have to come from within oneself, because nobody can (or will) do it for you. Nobody. We can all be supportive and encouraging, but everything else comes from within. If you don't have it-don't expect someone else to give it to you.

And there is one other thing I would like to say to Madam Braindead Essex: put a sock in your blowhole!