Sunday 11 July 2010

The Price Tag

I believe that every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. I am learning that weight loss most certainly does. If you could buy WEIGHT LOSS in a shop, you'd have to go to lots of different departments, to pick up different things and you'd get to the check-out with a trolley loaded up with stuff.. What do we have in the trolley?

It's full. It contains:  1) hard work, 2) determination, 3) patience, 4) self belief, 5) planning, 6) sacrifice, 7) commitment, 8) endurance, 9) acceptance, 10) resilience.

The assistant will ring up your purchases and tell you how much this lot will cost. You gulp when she tells you that the contents of your weight loss trolley require you to get out your platinum card. The price is high. You hesitate. You start to panic slightly. Ooooh. You are spending a lot. Is it really worth that amount? Do you really want to buy it? The assistant sees your discomfort and tactfully whispers.."Look...if you want to go and put these things back, that's OK."

Time to think. What do you do? Do you smile and tell her you'll call back another day? What happens when the girl at the till says "OK" and lets you off the hook, but reminds you that stock runs out quickly, the stuff in today is the real deal and may not be on the shelves if you wait? Next week's stock is likely to be sub-standard and the chances are you won't get the complete kit..just some of it.

Do you hand over your card there and then, knowing the price is high but the results obtained using the weight-loss kit are priceless? You load your purchases into bags and carry them home, feeling pleased you decided to buy and determined to try them out the minute you get in? Do you decide you don't want to pay out today, but you'll definitely call in later on - or perhaps next week or next month, you're not sure - to buy your weight-loss kit, or do you decide these things cost far too much and you aren't going to pay for them? You walk out of the weight loss shop because the cost is too great. You prefer getting something for nothing after all....

Outside the shop there are lots of overweight people. There seem to be three distinct groups coming out of the shop. Some are walking off purposefully with their purchases. The bags have a lot in them but there seems to be a spring in their step. Others are telling their friends that it was a bit of a close call - but phew...they didn't buy it. They'll think about the weight loss kit for a bit longer, and if they wait, it may go down in price. There is also a large group of people looking rather indignant. They are walking away from the shop tutting. They think the weight-loss kit is a complete rip-off. "I am not paying THAT amount!" you hear them say angrily. Most of this group head off for the fast food place on the corner. They need to sit down and eat something to recover from the shock of it all...and this is a much nicer environment. That was a scary moment and they won't be visiting that shop again in a hurry.

Which customer are you? I think I've been the second sort - waiting for a reduction for far too long. The price always remained the same.

The weight loss package almost always guarantees excellent results. The question is though, are you willing to pay the price to attain it?

3 comments:

  1. Great post today, Grump.

    I bought the whole shebang, but I don't always use all the parts to the kit.

    My biggest downfall is being immature and caving in to some poor choice at the moment without looking ahead at the consequences. I always pay the price for my poor choices in the long run.

    Jo

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  2. In terms of me, I'm "none of the above". I'm someone who bought each part piece by piece as I could afford it, and made some of it myself instead of buying. I say this because I'm fully committed in a fully non-committal way. Those purposeful people who walk away are the types that will be walking back in a few years for another kit. I fully believe overzealousness does not serve one well in the long run since it is so hard to sustain.

    This is a very interesting analogy, and a good bit of writing. When I was reading it, I was reminded of people like Kenny Rogers who literally "pay" for weight loss in that he has had lipsuction and plastic surgery several times to lose weight rather than actually do the work himself.

    I have often dreamed about someone just sucking all of the fat out of my body and letting me start with a good one that I'd then be more careful about, but I realize now that I wouldn't have the proper emotional or habit tools to maintain such a body if it was handed to me on a silver platter. You can't buy it, even if you're rich and can get doctors to do all the shaping for you, because it's really about changing your core being, not your outer physique.

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  3. Jo, I keep doing the 'poor choices' bit without even thinking, and hating myself afterwards for being so 'weak'. (See today's post.) I can beat myself up or I can determine to do better..but I want to know why my determination KEEPS wavering! :)

    SFG - Yes, another way of looking at it. I do however think there comes a time when we 'commit' to weight loss and then become really gung-ho and go at the task all guns blazing until we run out of steam, which we invariably do. (I know I do. So many false dawns.) Yes...on reflection I think we do have to go back and buy that kit again and again, and perhaps purchase just a few bits at a time. Some bits last longer than others. Today I feel the complete kit has worn out. Still, I haven't taken refuge in the fast food place, but I have, for the first time in ages thought "Sod it!" and opened a bottle of wine.

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