Needs

I have studied the needs of mankind at different levels. Maslow, Skinner, Jung - I have read them all. And the most amazing thing about the various concepts regarding the needs of mankind, is that nobody really agrees. Well, they have much common ground, but some went out of their way to study the best people while others tried to get a cross-section of mankind. Sort of the 'average' or 'mean' slice of humanity. So for achievers, the need for Accomplishment or Self actualization is put above food - and I would love to attain that. Who knows, maybe with my recent desire not to die - eating less and moving around more - I may be expressing a need for something that has finally outstripped my need for food. I guess one can chose these things, after all. What would be your hierarchy of need? The best fun would be to map it yourself/myself and then have our spouse/kids map it as they see it in us...

Well, it's Monday and I am about to trudge off into the cold dawn. I weigh in on Mondays, and so I am usually motivated to be extra careful on Sundays about what I eat. I also tend to like to get up early and maybe even walk a little extra so I can have a good showing when I step on the scale later this morning. We'll see how well it went this week - We'll see.

My scale here at the house just told me I dropped a pound, and that's not good enough for me, but this scale doesn't match the one at the Weight Watchers office exactly, so - we'll see. But the most important thing I can say about this experience is that I have to get on that scale. Often. A few years ago I got into shape, lost a bunch of weight and then I started to gain it back. The downfall has been pinned on many factors, and depending upon what I am thinking about at the moment, I am likely to blame any number of things which have happened in my life over the past three years. But there is one undeniable fact: at some point I stopped getting on the scale, and the battle may very well have been lost at that exact moment.

So - let a man examine himself. Judge me, Lord, lest I be judged. I have mirrored doors on my closet, and it is impossible to be in my room without seeing myself from head to toe. I wonder - at what point did I actually stop looking at myself? Well, I'm looking now. And it has had a profound effect.