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Every month my AIM (Adventures in Maintenance) friends and myself choose a question asked by readers and  then write separately our answers to that question. We don't talk about how we are going to answer the question, and we don't see each others articles until the day they are published. Last month we tackled the question, "What was your “last straw” moment, or whatever it was that finally made you say “I just have to do this (get healthy)”?"

It was a surprise to see that all of us wrote similarly about our experiences. There really wasn't a singular "last straw" moment for any of us.

I knew that I had a LOT of moments that SHOULD have been “the last straw.”

• Like when I would take my nieces on a special trip to Lake Tahoe, and I would sit on a bench in the shade just watching them.
• Or when I admitted to a special group of friends that sometimes I just felt like running out the front door, but I wasn’t physically able to do that.
• Like when I would limp into the house from the car after my 12 hour shift, thinking, I guess I’m just going to die early (because I can’t give up chocolate chip cookies.)
• Knowing that my blood pressure and blood sugar were starting to increase just a bit (and my dad had long-term hypertension and diabetes.)
• Or when something popped in my knee while taking a shower, and my leg hurt so bad that it literally took me half an hour to tie my shoe laces (so I could go to the ER.)

That last one. Man, I really thought that was going to do it for me. But no. I couldn’t seem to change the way I ate and thought and moved.

So my last straw seems to be an accumulation of years of quiet acceptance and desperation combined.

I so wish for all of you who are looking for that “last straw” or that “AHA moment” that you will find what you are looking for. Maybe it won’t be a big recognizable moment. Maybe it will just be that little admission “I need help,” or the quiet desperation that finally reaches the tipping point. Whatever it is, I know that I wish the very best for you. If you have more questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

To read more of my thoughts (and my friend's thoughts) on "The Last Straw" click here.