“I swore I’d never do that again,” Steven told me between long, deep breaths. “It hurt so much the last time I did it that I swore I’d change my ways so I’d never have to do that again!”

He’d just returned from twenty minutes on the treadmill exercise test. It’s a treadmill doctors use to test for coronary artery disease and to predict the risk of dangerous heart-related conditions.

I could tell Steven was hurting and that he was very mad at himself for letting himself slip back into a lifestyle that subjected him to this torture test once again.

“I stopped smoking, ate healthy, and exercised regularly for awhile after my first heart attack, but I just couldn’t resist eating cheeseburgers and fries, and smoking forever,” Steven continued. “Besides, who has the time to exercise everyday. The stress got to be too much for me. I guess that treadmill is the payback for not listening to my doctor and my wife.”

As he talked about his pain I could tell that he had regrets, but I wasn’t sure he had enough willpower to resist the same temptations in the future. I felt sorry for Steven, but it was up to him to conjure up the willpower to make the necessary lifestyle changes to avoid the same inevitable health problems.

Joe, on the other hand, seemed to have learned his lesson. He was in the doctor’s office merely for a checkup. He had made the changes ordered by his doctor, and was doing very well.

“I used to weigh almost 300 pounds,” he told me. “I’m down to just over 200 and feel like a ‘million dollars!’ My doctor is happy. My wife and kids are happy. I’m looking forward to playing with my grand kids.”

He looked good, too, much better than Steven. His weight was good, he had good color in his cheeks, and he was rather light on his feet for a 200 pound man as he moved around the room talking and joking with anyone who would listen.

It’s another lesson learned. In order to make changes in ourselves, we have to find the willpower inside of us that helps us make the changes needed. No amount of lecturing by our doctors, our spouses, children, or even grandchildren is enough to change us. We must want to make the change ourselves in order for our own willpower to work.

No one said that making lifestyle changes, or living life for that matter, was going to be easy. As the old saying goes, “life ain’t for sissies, but it beats the alternative.”

###

Return to Lessons Learned