Forward Momentum

The other night on the Biggest Loser (the show I most love to hate), the contestants were faced with an almost impossible sounding challenge: pulling a semi truck down a giant runway. Five people were instructed to get behind a huge bar strapped to the front of the truck, and by sheer brute force, move 33,000 pounds of machinery.

(Source)

From where I was sitting, this looked extremely difficult. And I don’t think that’s just because I was at home, on the couch in my pajamas with a bowl of ice cream in my lap (oh wait, sorry this is a healthy living blog. I’m ashamed to admit it, but in the spirit of full disclosure… For some reason I just get so hungry while watching this show. Jillian would be horrified, but what can I say — I think a little bit of ice cream is an essential part of life).  Anyway, I watched in awe as the contestants grunted and strained and threw their entire body weight into it…yet still the truck did not budge. “They’re never going to get it started!” my boyfriend turned to me and exclaimed.

And then, after what must have seemed like an eternity, the wheels s-l-o-w-l-y started turning. The truck gave a lurch forward and, just like that, began to roll across the pavement. Suddenly, the task didn’t seem nearly as impossible. As the truck rolled it picked up a little momentum, and the contestants no longer had to strain for each tiny step. Don’t get me wrong — to say they were working hard to keep the thing moving is probably an understatement. They weren’t moving very fast, and I’m sure the task of walking with 33,000 lbs dragging behind you is no small feat.  But, it was nothing compared to the furious strain they faced to get the truck going in the first place. Once they got over the hurdle of making a huge chunk of metal move, it created momentum that helped them take steady steps forward towards their goal.

For better or for worse (depending on your perspective), most of us will never be faced with the opportunity challenge of pulling an 18-wheeler. But I present this little anecdote because I think the broader meaning applies to any situation. Whenever we are faced with or considering a task, the beginning can actually be the hardest part.  Sometimes, in fact, simply trying to start moving forward in the direction of our goal — whether it be making the decision to go back to school, changing our diets, or starting an exercise program — can seem so overwhelming that we never actually get going. But if we can get past that initial hurdle (completing that first application, getting through that first Thanksgiving without turkey), an amazing thing happens. Moving forward suddenly seems less impossible, because we have momentum to lighten some of the load.

As silly as it may sound, I faced that same roadblock when I first decided to start a blog. When it was initially suggested to me (casually, by my mother during a particularly down-in-the-dumps venting session), I brushed it off. I knew nothing about blogging and even if I did, what the heck would I even say? Sometimes, though, these little ideas have a way of sticking with us despite our original intentions. And the little seed that was me starting a blog kept growing and growing until I eventually found myself spending a good deal of time reading blogs and researching blogs and thinking about blogs….so much so that actually starting one myself didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

After all, I am a researcher at heart. I love supplementing my knowledge and experiences with that of others — whether they be like-minded people or scholarly research studies. And just because I’m not currently able to share my passion in the context of my day-job, it doesn’t mean that I can’t find another platform through which I could connect to and maybe (I hope) help others!

So I decided to dive into the world of blogging. Though by dive I mean to carefully “stick my toe in and test the water and then slowly, slowly, immerse myself.”  But I got there eventually.  After months of thinking and planning and a few minor setbacks, the momentum built up enough and this blog was officially born.

Writing this first post was the final hurdle to jump over in “my beginning”. And now that I’m done, I find that I’m so excited to really and truly start this project that I don’t want to stop writing!  I have lots of ideas about interesting things to share and ways I would like to grow this blog. I know it will be hard work, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“Enthusiasm is the energy and force that builds literal momentum of the human soul and mind.” ~Bryant H. McGill