
One of my favorite Dr. Seuss tapes was called "Seuss on the Loose," and it had cartoon versions of three stories: "Green Eggs and Ham," "The Sneetches," and "The Zax." The first everyone has heard of, and the second is surprisingly well-known. The third, though, I find most people have not heard of, and it's really a shame, because like all of the best Dr. Seuss stories, there's a really valuable lesson to be learned.
One day, two Zax are walking: one is headed north, the other is headed south. They are headed towards the same point, and they finally bump into one another in the Prairie of Prax (ah, rhyming ... it is, after all, a story by Dr. Seuss).

The South-going Zax continues: "I'll stay here not budging, I can and I will, if makes you and me and the whole world stand still." Unfortunately for the Zax, though, he's wrong. Life carries on, and those two Zax the only ones that stay put - a city and highways even develop all around them!
I've been thinking a lot about this story lately, for a few reasons. First, because in a lot of ways, these two Zax are like Jill and me. One of the things I love most about our friendship is that we're best friends despite so many differences, but one huge common flaw is how stubborn we both can be.

But also, I feel like I can relate the story to my recent weight loss struggles. There's the me that knows how good working out, eating well, and losing weight feels, and she's headed in a good direction. But then there's the me that can't let go of wanting to sit on the couch, watch movies for hours, and eat entire blocks of cheese. She's facing an entirely different direction. And neither one wants to budge.
It's hard enough with the demands of everyone and everything else in this world, but when the internal ones start dueling, it can be overwhelming. I've come so far already, though, so unlike the Zax, I'm willing to step aside a little in order to continue to make progress on my path. I just need to work on compromising my two conflicting sides: for example, not feeling guilty when I need to choose work over the gym, or not letting one bad day become an end-all complete failure.