My mother used to say I could never stick to anything for very long. She didn’t understand that girls and boys need to learn about that, you’re not born with it. You try things out, drop them, try other things, learn, go forward and fall back, hold on and let go, and that’s all part of growing up.

Then, when you are grown, what it takes to stick to something is still very involved. It takes passion, commitment, tenacity, overcoming obstacles, withstanding failures, believing in yourself, giving up at times, forging ahead at times. But my mother didn’t know her cruel remarks about sticking and me would haunt me for such a long time, and interfere with the process of sticking to it.

This is my biggest personal issue, one that I confront daily as I try to lose weight. Her words echo in my head, and continue to hurt me and influence me: You never stick to anything. But I know intellectually that those words are not right, that they are so wrong. once I stop believing her, and start believing what I know, that’s when I’ll stick to it and finally be able to lose weight. And I feel that day is coming very soon.