Grow

Circumstantially, it's been a rough month for our family. We had three overlapping sicknesses. A cold, a stomach bug, and strep! I am still not entirely sure how that even happened since we barely left the house! With small children, fussy and clingy, it's hard. It's hard to take care of them, feed them, bathe them, comfort them when all you want to do it pull the cover over your head and go to sleep until you feel better. It makes the regular things like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning nearly impossible. My husband and I had a momentary pity party when the last illness rolled around and in the middle of it I realized some things. I have grown. It used to be that a curve ball like this would have thrown me completely off my routine, and there were days in there where I wasn't able to work out or I didn't eat enough but on the days I did feel good, I instinctively pushed play and did my work out. I used my time wisely and went grocery shopping when I got a chance. I made a lot of meals and when we did eat out we chose well.

When I was growing up, my family didn't have a lot of money so treats were few and far between, however, when we were sick that was when we got our fill of ginger ale, root beer, ice cream, and other comfort foods. So, in my adult life, that was the habit that I had formed. I noticed it this time. I felt the pull to run to those things and I was able to consciously make decisions without giving in to that subliminal auto-pilot. I know that probably doesn't seem like much in the light of the discouragement but seeing growth, no matter how small, is always a big thing! I am changing my life and my children's lives one step at a time. I am helping them to form good subliminal habits and I am breaking cycles in my own life. I am living a life by design. Jeff Olsen wrote, in The Slight Edge, that they best way to break a habit is to replace it with a good one. As you become increasingly aware of your tendencies, you choose to replace them with smart conscious choices that turn into habits themselves.

If you have started your health journey and you are wallowing in discouragement because all you can see are the bad habits in your life or " failed" attempts to change, that's  a good thing! You are aware! Awareness has to come before you can change! The next step will be that you become aware BEFORE you do commit the act and you get the opportunity to choose. Every healthy choice gives you more power the next time until it's on auto-pilot! Do NOT tell yourself you can't do it this or its too hard! It is hard but you CAN do it! We all have untapped greatness within us. Your past does not dictate your future. Your heritage does not dictate your future. You have the power at any moment to say that this is not how the story ends for you! 

When I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, there was a baby step out of debt called the Debt Snowball. Basically you pay minimally on all your debts but pay off the smallest one first and then you take the money you were paying on that debt and you pile it onto of the next smallest debt and so on and so forth until ALL the debt is paid off. He recommends this because we are hardwired to see results. If we don't see them, we get discouraged and quit. It's the same with your healthy journey. Maybe you need to lose 50 pounds but obviously the wont happen overnight, so set a goal of 5 pounds or even 2 pounds. Meet your goal! Celebrate it! And then set a new goal. If it's too vague, if its too far off,  it's going to be hard to stay motivated. Learn to be kind to yourself. Be looking for all the things you are doing right! Even things that are not related to your goal.  It's important to see yourself as a whole being growing and become an even better whole being! I have spent far too much of my life looking for all the things in myself that need to be "fixed" and comparing my weaknesses to other peoples strengths. Now, I am celebrating the little things, focusing on my strengths and choosing to celebrate even the smallest growth in my weak areas and I am a happier person for it! In fact, it has given me the ability to celebrate others strengths without comparing myself and I am able to encourage others without guarding my weaknesses. It's ok to need help. It's ok not to be perfect. Just keep growing! And remember that most of time growth is slow, in nature and life! As long as you are seeing changes in the right direction be patient and keep moving forward.

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