by Byron Meredith
In 2002, you could find me at a Weight Watchers meeting every Thursday at lunch. That same year, Sarah, The Duchess of York, made an appearance in Atlanta in her role as the spokesperson for Weight Watchers. She gave an inspiring presentation to about 2000 Weight Watchers. Following her presentation, they had a drawing for a grand prize: a photo opportunity with The Duchess of York, along with a gift basket that contained several Weight Watcher books and tools, including books written by The Duchess of York. Knowing that I never win anything, I sat in shock as I heard The Duchess of York announce my name and invite me to join her on stage in front of all those people. I nervously walked up to the stage as the cameras flashed! I had my first (and last) brush with the paparazzi and being the envy of thousands! I had my fifteen minutes of fame!Following the presentation of the gift basket, I adjourned backstage for my photo opportunity. The Duchess talked very frankly with me and a few of my friends who got to join me about her struggles, including a very public divorce from the Royal Family, subsequent financial problems, and a battle with unprecedented weight gain. She talked about reinventing herself and returning to the public eye in a very different role, Spokesperson for Weight Watchers. As we were concluding the photo opportunity, and she was bidding me farewell, she whispered to me, "It is never too late to re-invent yourself!" That comment made an impression on me and has stuck with me in the years since. It reminds me of the quote by George Eliot, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
At Halloween, the costumes allow us to become anyone we want for the evening. We can be a super-hero, a skinny bitch, the President, a sex kitten – whatever we can imagine. Of course, in reality, reinventing ourselves is not quite as easy as donning a costume, but it’s no less true that we can become whatever we imagine if we are willing to do the work. Rather than letting Halloween mark the beginning of two months of over-indulging, why not use it to do some dreaming about and planning for where we want to be on January 1 and beyond. Envision what you want, believe in yourself, and make it happen!
And for fun, instead of stuffing ourselves with candy today, let's have a virtual costume party. You can be anyone or anything you want. Who or what will it be and why?
19 comments:
You nailed it Byron. My kids love Halloween. And while they like the IDEA (Pat, how do you do those italics?) of getting candy, truth is we still have a bowl full of the candy they got from last year -- even some of the good stuff. What they really love is being whatever they want to be for a day. And at ages 7 and 9 they place no limits on themselves.
What I like about your post even more is the "it's never too late to reinvent yourself." It's very,very timely for me.
Hmmm, what shall I be today...
I think a Ninja Warrior.
I might change my costume several times throughout the day. Egyptian Goddess (with lions) might be next.
By the way, when Pat gives us tasks, whether difficult or fun, she always starts us off by giving us her list. Byron, what is your virtual costume today?
Who is that handsome man on our blog today? =o)
Sheryl, to do italics, you have to enter the HTML code. The code for italics is "< i >" before the word, and "< / i >" after the word. Remove the spaces though--I had to use spaces to be able to type them in and have them show up. You can preview it before posting to make sure you got it right.
I'm thinking about who I will be.
And I cannot believe you still have candy left from last year! I don't have candy left from yesterday! (that's just for emphasis--I did not eat any candy yesterday).
Sheryl, if you ever want to be a guest blogger, just let me know. I think I remember you saying you like to write....
Love the picture Byron! So good to finally put a face with the name.
Love the reinventing yourself. Like Sheryl, I think I will do it a few times today. This morning, I would like to be an anchor on the Today show but also the First Lady.
Love the Ninja Warrior Sheryl.
I love the idea of re-inventing ourselves multiple times today. Since I am dressed in my tux and already enjoying a martini this morning, I think I want to be Bond, James Bond! He always gets to go to the most marvelous resorts, has Moneypenny to do all the hardwork while he cavorts with beautiful people, and he always wins!
I love hearing everyone's ideas! Halloween can be fun! :-)
Byron: very handsome and wonderful blog today!
Hmm... reinventing myself, well I know that I am always changing and I still feel my life has a lot to offer and a lot of new ventures are heading my way. As I (slowly, hehe!)approach my 30's I am actually excited to know myself better and to have a much clearer idea of what I want out of life compared to my early 20's. I still get scared and I worry about what will come, so today I will be confident and will not worry about things so much. My favorite characters are Lucy from Charlie Brown, I love Lucy, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, so I will be strong and sassy, funny, and always know I am on the right path with caring friends to guide the way! I can not predict what the future brings, so why stress about it!
Happy Halloween All, hope it is a splendid day!!!
Byron, I left you a voice message but I think I called your Atlanta cell phone #. I have questions about this costume party we are going to tonight.
Pat, I will call you shortly. I am almost finished re-inventing myself as a lawyer! I have to be in Court at 9 a.m. I would prefer to remain Bond, but I guess I am going to be Matlock for a few hours now!
I think I'll be Martha Stewart because if I were Martha, I would be really organized and ready for my trip to Byron's this weekend. I would already be packed and have the perfect costume for the party tonight. And the house would be neat and tidy, car gassed up, picnic lunch packed and the perfect stop already selected for said picnic lunch.
Pat and Byron - have so much fun this weekend.
P.S. - I am Xena Warrior Princess for the next few hours. I was disappointed with how the actual Today Show anchors dressed up today, so I had to abandon that version of me...
I agree, Gnomes! The Today anchors were disappointing this year. I love Xena!
Pat - You are Martha! You do lots of good things for us everyday! The only difference is that you have not hired a staff of 100s to help you!
Byron, LOVE this post! You are so right! How empowering is it to deeply KNOW that you can reinvent yourself whenever you are good and ready!
Pat, you are way cooler than Martha Stewart could ever dream of being!
I'd be myself, but with magical powers and maybe a blond... but just for a day ... then I'd go back to pink. I might grow a few inches, too, while we're at it - just to see what it'd be like to be taller without having to wear 4" platforms!
Sheryl, you already kind of remind me of an Egyptian goddess for some reason. Ninja Warrior sounds like fun, I might have to be a kung-fu master as well. Maybe kung-fu just comes along with my magical powers.
Gnomes, host on the Today Show?? Hilarious.
Well, I have been Bond and Matlock already today. Now, I think I want to be Batman - a mysterious force for good in the universe! And, he has the most wonderful toys!
Shana - I love the idea of magical powers! How entertaining would that be!
Quiet blog this afternoon! I hope that means everyone is pleased with "who they are" and not that we are too busy.
Byron, too busy that was the exact opposite of my second half of the afternoon and that was my goal, to actually relax, I did and I feel so good! Naps are my fave, it had been awhile since I had a good one!!!!!!
Just dropping in to say hi. Love the blog today. Getting my butt whooped with work today. For that reason, I choose the be Uma Thurman's character in "Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2". Atleast for the moment.
Gotta get back to work. Have a safe night everyone.
Made it to Savannah. Currently having cocktails at Byron's house and getting ready to go out to a costume party. Happy Halloween!
Have a great night Pat and Byron!! After being an Egyptian Goddess I finished the day wearing an afro, glasses with round wire rims and reflective lenses, large silver hoop earings, a peace sign necklace and the coolest threads. :) Virtually of course. In my non-virtual world I had a wonderful time as a black cat trick-o-treating and handing out candy with the most beautiful 7 year old witch you ever did see.
Loved this one Byron!
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