A Pennsylvania State Trooper pulls over this car on I-81, a couple of miles north of the PA/MD state line. When the trooper asks the driver why he was speeding, the driver answers that he’s a magician and a juggler on his way to Harrisburg to do a show that night at the Zembo Shrine Circus, and doesn’t want to be late.
The trooper tells the driver that he’s simply fascinated by juggling, and if the driver will do a little mini-show for him, he won’t ticket him for speeding. The driver tells the trooper that he’s sent all of his equipment on ahead and doesn’t have anything in the car suitable for juggling.
The trooper says that he’s got some road flares in the trunk of his patrol car and asks if he can juggle them. The juggler says “Sure,”, so the trooper trots back to the trunk and pulls out three flares. He lights them and hands them over to the juggler.
About the time the guy gets going good with his juggling act, another car pulls in behind the patrol car. A drunk guy gets out, and watches the performance for a minute. Then he walks over to the patrol car, opens the rear door and gets in.
The trooper goes over to the patrol car, opens the door and asks the drunk guy what he thinks he’s doing. The drunk replies, “You might as well take my ass to jail, cause there’s no way I’m gonna pass that test.”
Weight loss and juggling have a few things in common: there are a few basics you have to master in order to be successful, people that do it well make it look extraordinarily easy and, despite Miz Fit’s video evidence to the contrary, anyone can do it.
Losing weight takes the same exact skill set as learning to juggle. It’s a complex series of maneuvers that need to be broken down, to be comprehended, to be mastered. Just like you can’t juggle unless you understand the mechanics of it, you can’t lose weight until you really grasp a lot of fundamental truths about nutrition, exercise and the inner workings of your own body. They’re both learned skills.
A juggler needs to understand how each little piece of the mechanics works, just like the person attempting to lose weight needs to work out all the parts and pieces of that process. One part of it doesn’t function, balls hit the floor.
And mastering both juggling and weight loss is the work of a lifetime. Anyone attempting to do either will find him or herself dealing with the ultimate mix of fun and frustration, of celebrations and setbacks.
I would bet that there’s a very high failure rate for both people who are seriously learning to juggle and who are seriously trying to lose weight. I think that’s because, in both areas, people get down on the little failures they experience, not understanding that the only way to learn is to recognize, in the little failures, how to avoid the ones that really matter.
I don’t like to brag, but I’m a black-belt juggler. I can give you a Cascade, Reverse Cascade, Juggler’s Tennis, Behind the Back, 3-Ball Flash, Boston Mess, and bring it home with a Cherry Picker. Hell, I can eat an apple and keep the balls flying. But here’s the thing: I couldn’t do it all after just one day.
I’ve lost nearly 70 pounds on my current weight loss journey. I’ve chased out most unhealthy processed foods from my diet, incorporated everyday workouts into my routine and blogged each and every day since this past Easter Sunday. And here’s the thing: I didn’t do it all in a single day.
Juggling has been called “the art of controlling patterns,” and control really is at the heart of it all, just like it is with this weight business. Keep the balls under control… keep your eating and your exercise under control… the the results can be… well… magical.
There’s one more thing about juggling and dropping a lot of weight: they’ll both make you a big hit at parties.
Also, as Id mentioned to you before, I recently did a roundtable discussion with the amazing Gabby Reece.
The PR firm selected two of your questions and I had the opportunity to bumble through my own query as well.
Please to enjoy.
DAMN.
This was a long one huh?
JackSh*t & lottsa talk of Gettin’Fit.
As as reward for your time (if you made it this far) PureVia hath provided us a treat.
A gift basket filled with Two boxes of PureVia, Starbucks coffee, body scrub, an aromatherapy candle and a yoga to-go travel deck of cards.
You can be entered to win for the lowlow price of a comment below.
On juggling, on JackSh*t, on Gabby and how she eats way more clean than I, on anything.
Much to his chagrin, the inimitable JackSh*t outed himself in the comments as a juggler.
Stalking & emailing ensued then, much to my delight, musings on juggling & weight-loss filled my in-box.
THANK YOU JackSh*t!
Also, as Id mentioned to you before, I recently did a roundtable discussion with the amazing Gabby Reece.
The PR firm selected two of your questions and I had the opportunity to bumble through my own query as well.
Please to enjoy.
DAMN.
This was a long one huh?
JackSh*t & lottsa talk of Gettin’Fit.
As as reward for your time (if you made it this far) PureVia hath provided us a treat.
A gift basket filled with Two boxes of PureVia, Starbucks coffee, body scrub, an aromatherapy candle and a yoga to-go travel deck of cards.
You can be entered to win for the lowlow price of a comment below.
On juggling, on JackSh*t, on Gabby and how she eats way more clean than I, on anything.
Please to hit us all up in the comments.
Winner announced friday USA only.