Will to Change, Will to Succeed

Saturday we headed out to my mom's for a visit. We dropped the kids and continued on for another hour and a half to pick out our new puppy. I'm sooooo excited. He is only 5 weeks and we can't bring him home for another 3 weeks but I am going to go crazy for the next few weeks getting everything ready for him.

On this long drive my husband was reading to me from a book I got him for Christmas. It was all about some guys that decided to go on an Amazon adventure and recaped the good and poor choices that were made.

There were oringinally 3 friends and a guide that embarked on this journey. For whatever circumstances they were split up, and two of the friends were together. One was named Yossi and this is his experience.

Yossi and his friend Kevin were travelling down a river within the rain forest when there raft got stuck. Kevin got out to dislodge it and it quickly continued down and went right over a 20 foot water fall. Yossi somehow survived but found he lost his pack with the food and other survival items in it. He made a shelter for that night and went back the next morning to try and find their supplies. With a little bit of luck he found the food and survival supplies which happened to be limited.

After spending the next five days unsuccessfully trying to find his friend Kevin he headed down stream towards a village. On one of those nights it got a little worse. For whatever reason that night he didn't have time to make a proper shelter and was out exposed in the jungle. After a little bit it was dark and he heard some noises not too far away. He was on guard but then heard the breathing too. With a flashlight he quickly saw he was being hunted by the rain forests biggest predator—the jaguar. With a little innovation he miraculously managed to send him off and survive the night.

It rained constantly in the forest and he was starving daily. Because of the constant rain he had horrible trench foot and began hallucinating from exhaustion and near starvation, but he knew he had to keep going.

With a little bit of luck he ended up being in the right place at the right time and his friend Kevin found him almost dead on a beach. Yossi managed to survive of the most difficult challenges he ever faced. It wasn't his knowledge of survival skills, or his times of good luck but it really came down to his will to survive.

It has been said that the elements of survival are:

Knowledge: 5%

Luck: 20%

Kit: 15%

Will to Live: 60%

Yossi was a true survivor. He had almost no knowlege of the Amazon or how to survive there. He had a kit that was adequate but lacked many important things. His luck was so-so. He had some good but then he also had some really bad luck too. With all of these things going against him it didn't change his pure will to survive and desire to live.

As I was listening to Yossi's experiences I thought of how although we may not be facing waterfalls, jaguar's, hornets, and termites, but we have other challenges we need to face. We each have a goal. Yossi was to get through the Amazon forest ours may be to lose 15-20 pounds. Each of those goals will have challenges to go with it.

When you want to lose weight, it is never easy. It takes dedication, persistance, courage, desire and pure will. Anyone can lose 10 pounds, but not everyone can make changes to lose 10 pounds and keep it off forever. I would like to apply the elements of survival to losing weight and being healthy.

Elements of Losing Weight

Genetics: 5%

Exercise: 10%

Nutrition: 15%

Will and Desire to Change: 70%

This is just an example of me making a point of how important it is to have that desire to want to make changes to improve your life. (it was not based on scientific evidence, but on the many examples and experiences of my clients)

I have seen people take control of their lives and make the necessary changes to improve themselves and conquered some of their biggest “jaguars”. The most important thing you can do is decide what you want. Once you have decided don't let anything stand in your way.

I did not do Yossi justice by recapping his story. It was truly amazing. If you want to read the entire account and others like it you can pick up Les Stroud book “Will to Live”

Committed to your fitness success,

Kelly Parker

www.fitmommakeover.net