You’re So Vain, You Probably Think This Blog Is About You!!!!

This blog title was given to me by a dear friend of my wife’s and a blow in from Perth for the 12WBT finale this week after a discussion we had on Saturday night after the finale.  Thank you Heather for the great title and a super weekend.

My wonderfully sexy wife, a little sozzled.

This weekend I found myself surrounded by hundreds of people (actually a couple of thousand on Saturday night) all out to celebrate their achievements over the last 12 weeks as well as catching up with old friends and some new ones made this weekend.  I was also humbled by the number of people that came up to me during the course of the weekend to introduce themselves and tell me that they read this blog and that I had in some way helped or inspired them.  This is incredible and I honestly did not know what to say.  I still don’t know how to put it into words, but I thank each and every one of you and I am extremely proud that I have been able to impact people in some way to help them achieve their goals.

2 Wonderful Ladies that I have inspired, Natalie and Leah.

The above has nothing to do with the heading of this blog, but I did see the link.  Below is the definition of vain.  As you will see it mentions being proud of your appearance, qualities and achievements, which we all should be, but you will see the word excessively in there, which I don’t believe I am.

excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements,
OR:

proceeding from or showing pride in or concern about one's appearance, qualities.

There are some people that I feel do fit this definition and are very open about it.  Well I did prior to this weekend anyway.  After meeting with one of these people on Saturday night I left the party feeling a little put off.  Why though?  This lady is open about being vain.  She has posted on the facebook groups saying it.  Normally we are not fond of this sort of behavior in day to day life.  But the last few days got me thinking about vanity and how our lives are changing.  Mine has changed immensely.  Never would I have paraded around in front of 1000 people dressed in a mankini and rainbow Mohawk and caveman leg warmers.  I will openly admit that I did enjoy the attention and the fact that I did make it onto the 12WBT facebook page because of it, but that is more about me enjoying the limelight than being vain.

Hate the Limelight

Now to go back to the previous line of thought.  This lady came up to me on Saturday night and was gracious enough to tell me that I looked great.  I was not even aware she knew who I was, but I thanked her and left it at that.  She then moved on when I did not tell her how well she looked.   This was a conscious decision of mine, as I thought that what was what she was actually after.   Looking back, I am sure it was, but what is wrong with that?  I should have told her how good she looked.  It was wrong of me not to.  This lady, like a lot of others has come from a place where we all try to hide ourselves away, dress in baggy clothes, never want photos of ourselves because we feel horrible or that we look horrible.  Now she is proud of what she has achieved and how good she looks.  I am as well, as are countless numbers of other people.

So if you are reading this and you know whom I am referring to, I am sorry. You have done an amazing job, you do look fantastic and you have earned the right to be vain.   The effort and hard work put in to transform ourselves to the point where we can look in the mirror and finally be happy with what looks back at us allows us to be vain.

If I am brave enough to parade around in a green mankini, have strangers come up and ask for photos and then have it splashed to the cyber world, it doesn’t mean I am vain, it means I am confident in myself and proud of what I have achieved and not afraid to share that with the world.

The Guru, with my training buddies - The Western Warriors

I had an absolute blast on the weekend.  Meet some really amazing people, made some new friends and caught up with some old ones as well.  It is an amazing time being at a finale weekend, but my fondest memories will be the responses I got from 2 people that I least expected it from.  Amelia Burton came looking for me.  I had met Amelia in Perth at the finale of my first round when I was in the top 20 and she wanted to have a chat to me.  She could not believe how much I had changed.  She gave me a big hug and some very kind words.  She is a lovely lady.  The second was from a member of the events company that organizes the finale party.  The lady was the person that ensures all goes well for the finalists getting on stage.  As we walked into the ballroom, I walked past her and she came up to me and told me how good I was looking.  I was shocked she even knew who I was, but for a relative stranger to do that means I am moving in the right direction and this is something I should be proud of.  I am by the way, so if that makes me vain, I can live with it.

The amazing Amelia Burton, myself and Di

I think the message I get from this and want to share with you is that this journey is teaching us so much more than how to lose weight.  We are having a lot of wins, making a lot of progress in a lot of areas and this is where we deserve to stop and look at ourselves and like the person we have become.  Be proud of what you do and will be doing.  Enjoy the trip, but don’t be afraid to say that you are excessively proud of who you are, how you look and how you got there.  If this means we all become vain, so what.  We have felt unhappy with ourselves for far to long so now it is time we all start being proud and shouting it from the rooftops if need be.

So “Your So Vain, You probably think this blog is about you!”  You are right, but it is about each and everyone of you and also about me as well.

Never had so many women trying to get into my underpants in one night

Thank you everyone for the awesome weekend, see you when we all hop into the time machine and head back 20 years in Adelaide in 13 weeks time.