Tex’s Bus (a script for Weight Loss)

This is a short version of a therapeutic metaphor or story I have used (and may well use again next Tuesday) when doing the “Hypnosis for Weight Loss” seminars.

So this story is intended to speak to people who have not been exercising enough in their lives and might need some incentive to do so in the future.

…

I have a friend Ron who lives down in Florida

Ron is retired and moved there from Pittsburgh for the weather

Ron is a big fan of weather

Well it turns out other people have had that very same idea

There are quite a few retired people in Florida.

I don’t know if you were aware of that

It’s true

I looked it up

One of them is this guy who lives next door to Ron named Tex

Tex, like Ron and so many others, moved to Florida upon retirement

Tex, however, is not from Pittsburgh

Tex, as you might well imagine, is from… Cleveland.

They call him Tex because of his outsized “Texas” kind of mentality

He does sometimes wear a cowboy hat and cowboy boots

But everything Tex does has to be the biggest and the best

like one time Tex decided he wanted to see America

but he wanted to do from the comfort of his own home

So he bought himself one of those traveling houses

you know – like a mobile home or an RV?

But this sucker was not just your typical Winnebago

This was the top of the line

It cost him nearly half a million dollars

It had Amish cabinetry in the kitchen

Italian leather for the upholstery

It has a mural painted on the side

It was beautiful

So Tex brought it home

and parked it in his driveway

and it sat there for the next six years

Seriously

Tex never once drove the thing

He was always too busy doing other things

You know how that goes

even though you really want to…

   take good care of your self

even though you have really good intentions

sometimes life is challenging

Unfortunately for Tex, Florida’s nice weather can be challenging too

especially if you are an RV parked on a driveway

with the blazing sun, daily rains

occasional hurricanes passing through

Tex’s home on wheels started to decay

The roof leaked

the engine seized up

the Amish cabinetry warped

the tires flattened

It was just trashed

Somebody offered to buy it from him

Offered him $39,000

True story

But you know – that’s what happens

a vehicle is made to move, made to be driven

Just like my father always told me,

 if you don’t use it you lose it

You know that

It’s just like your body, isn’t it

Your body was made to move

to run, to walk, to climb trees

and  if you don’t use it you lose it

But what’s amazing about Tex’s RV is this

One day it had had enough

It decided that it was going to do something about this

take matters into it’s own hands, as it were

One morning it started itself up, backed itself out of the driveway and

drove itself around the block

flat tires and all

and you know what?

the next day it was better

the tires were a bit more firm

the engine worked better

So it went around the block twice

And was even better the next day

soon the engine was good as new,

the Amish cabinetry was fixed

the mural repainted itself

the tires were firm and hard

it could even go on that cross country road trip

with or without Tex

because when you get that ball rolling

it builds on itself

and it’s nice to know… that… it will

work out … won’t you?

people can  work out in a variety of ways

people can walk or run or swim

some people enjoy dancing or biking

I wonder when you will  find THAT way

that feels best to you

maybe you’ll  discover yoga

I don’t know what you are choosing now – or not

I don’t know how you’ll enjoy working out in the future

I do know that when you create good habits

good things happen

these new habits become you

you will get better and healthier every day

and you can…  feel good

… now