Thought for the Day--May 1, 2011: Obsession with Numbers
I can prove anything by statistics except the truth. --George Canning Yesterday , I wrote about worry and hurry; today's subject is closely related: obsession with numbers and stats, particularly when it comes to weight and weighing. I must confess: I am number obsessed; the number on the scale can make or break my day. I'm working on this fault, but I'm not there yet, so this post is for me as much as it is for others. As I have said in an earlier post, we don't gain weight overnight. In fact, it often takes years to pack on 20 pounds, slowly sneaking up on us, until one day, we look in the mirror or at a photograph and exclaim, EGAD! When we're slowly gaining weight, we don't jump on the scale six times a day and fret over every 1/2 ounce we gain in the course of a day, and we don't allow the scale to define our day. If anything, we're in a complete state of denial regarding our reality. But when we're trying to lose, we get this idea that we shoul...