In our “new” world, most people are wearing protective masks. The other day I was noticing an interesting phenomenon concerning the issue of “focus of attention”. Normally when you are interacting with someone not wearing any face protection, you may notice many aspects of the person’s face and body: The eyes, smile, hair, body shape etc. There is something about the interaction now with masks that places lots more focus on the person’s eyes at the expense of focus on other parts of the person.
Try this yourself: Place a protective mask on and stand in front of a mirror. Then, take the mask off and look again. Do you notice a difference as to where you “focused” on yourself? With the mask on, you may not be as critical of yourself for the slight again lines along the mouth, perhaps a bit of a crooked nose, etc. Your reaction may have been more in the lines of: “Dang, I have really pretty eyes.”
So, where am I getting out with this entry? Well, despite the calendar showing us that summer is coming up soon, we are all so focused on the pandemic that thoughts of pools, parties, gatherings are not exactly taking center stage in our thought processes. However, the spring/summer usually translates into the wearing of clothes that will reveal more of our bodies. This concept will serve as a motivational force for many people wanting to shed weight. They simply would like to look “better” at pool gatherings, evening functions and beach trips.
The motivation for controlling weight comes in many forms and clearly in the present times, the most major motivational force should be the desire to change from a “high risk” to “low risk” person as this relates to developing significant illness if (more like when) Covid is contracted. However, lets all still work off some of the same old motivational forces including: “uh oh…swim suit season is coming.”