Weight Loss Tip # 17: Take Responsibility
Many of us who have spent years compulsively eating and dieting have developed a bit of an attitude problem. Although we may appear to be responsible in many aspects of our lives, we tend to have a rebellious streak that undermines our hopes and dreams. Our overeating and excessive dieting have been methods of “treating” our rebellious selves to a little vacation from the cares of the world. Often times in our lives we have felt that we didn’t get enough — enough love, enough success, enough attention. We’ve wanted more. And we’ve been mad about it! Even if the “madness” was expressed mostly through depression and not through “outrage,” many of us have inwardly been overly sensitive and seething about things for years.
Maybe there was a time in life when we really were neglected by adults who were supposed to take care of us. Maybe we didn’t get what we deserved. But we are not children anymore. And if we don’t have enough of something that we always wanted, it’s time to stop blaming others for our misfortune. We need to suit up and show up and take responsibility for our lives.
Are you middle-aged and feeling “trapped” in a career or relationship that doesn’t satisfy you? Guess what? You are not trapped at all! You’re blaming other people for your unhappiness. You are making the choice to stay in the situation that is making you so unhappy. And the truth is, unless you adjust your attitude and realize that you have only yourself to blame for your unhappiness, you’re bound to be equally unhappy in the next career or relationship.
So be happy today. It’s your choice. Your life isn’t as miserable as you make it out to be. There are wonderful blessings every day when we condition ourselves to approach each situation with gratitude, counting the simple pleasures in our lives.
If you put some effort into cultivating an attitude of gratitude on a daily basis and find that you are still beat down by a job or relationship, perhaps it is time for a change. But you don’t have to act quickly. Too many sudden changes in your life could throw off your balance and cause you to return to your “comfortable” old destructive habit of compulsive eating or dieting.
If you decide you really do want to make a big change, do it thoughtfully. Give yourself six months to a year to carefully plan your new path. And while you are making your future plans and setting your goals, make sure that you keep your new healthy eating plan at the very top of your list of priorities.
Daily Inspiration: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi
When we point a finger at the behaviors of another person, there truly are three fingers pointing back at us. What bothers us most about other people generally bothers us so much because it is a reflection of something we dislike about ourselves. The only effective way for us to change our families, our communities and the world at large is to model the behavior we wish to see.
What are you doing to build a better family, community and world today?
Are you the person who takes the last sheet of toilet paper or the person who notices when the roll is almost empty and changes it before it even has a chance to run out (you can save the little bit of toilet paper that’s left in a baggie and put it under the sink for times when you need some tissue paper)? Does your rebellious nature cause you to leave empty grocery carts abandoned in the parking lot where they can roll into someone’s car and scratch it? Or are you the person who returns your own cart every time you go shopping — even when it’s cold or raining? When paper blows out of your hand do you chase it? When you go on a nature walk do you carry out a few pieces of trash in a small effort to keep wild areas beautiful?
There are so many small ways in which we can effect change every day. All of them start with our own behavior.
