Jaa Says No to a Diet

by Melissa
(Vancouver, BC)

Jaala went to the doctor. Whatever she has been doing lately, he is fairly pleased. Ideally, she should weigh about 25 pounds less, but right now he is just so happy with the improvement in her health, he is not going to complain too much. Her hubby, on the other hand, is not at all that thrilled. He has been hinting and not all that subtly that he would be happier if she would go on a diet. She has been hinting with even less subtly that she would be happy if he would back off of a high cliff.

The weight is just the tip of the iceberg between those two. The foundation of that iceberg is Jaa’s motorcycle. He never wanted her to have one. He fought her every step of the way. And, every now and then, there are some passive aggressive moments between them and by them I mean Jaa’s bike and her husband. He wouldn’t dare pull that stuff on her. He backed into her bike one day- claiming he did not see it there. One day all of her saddle bags were mysteriously removed. Her bike plates have come up missing a time or two only to show up a day or two later. She knows it is him- and she does her share of devious things back. He makes her mad, but he knows how far to push her, and never pushes her any farther.

So, she comes home from the doctor, the smile on her face. She pats the seat of her bike, her old friend and the reason that she has had a serious improvement in her blood pressure. Every time that that man or the other pains in her life start getting to her, she hops on her bike and takes a long and soul stirring ride. Here lately, she has been on the motorcycle more than she has been off of it. He can growl about her weight all that he wants; it won’t change a thing.

If she cared what he thought about her, she might be upset. If she thought that his opinion mattered, she would consider a diet. And while they may have started fighting about the bike itself, it wasn’t the only thing that was wrong with their marriage- it was only the concrete evidence of what he always feared: Jaa is her own person, an independent creature beyond his control. She is not just his wife- and if things keep going in this direction, she won’t be his wife at all.

When she is ready and not a day sooner, she will find a diet to follow. For now, she is turning to her motorcycle to keep herself calmer and more relaxed, and to keep her blood pressure down. She will lose weight not to please that man, but so that she can be healthy for herself, for her children and for the friends who all dearly love her.