Weight Loss Tip #24: Nurture Something
Many of us who have struggled with compulsive dieting and compulsive eating have spent too much time focused on interests that feed our egos. Even though some of us seem to be very service-oriented and generous, when our charitable acts are observed truthfully, it is common to see that many of our “good deeds” have been done in an attempt to control the outcome of some situation — often because, due to our low self esteem, we have been eager to make others like us. Because we have not loved ourselves enough we often have exhausted ourselves in attempts to do good deeds for others to prove our worth. We wanted to be popular at work so we volunteered for extra projects and worked many extra unpaid hours — often at the expense of our health and relationships. We wanted our spouses to love us so much they would never dream of leaving us — so we did special favors for them, even as we craved more attention from them and didn’t feel able to articulate our specific desires. We wanted our parents to think we were the best children in the world — so we studied hard to achieve admittance to the most prestigious colleges.
Some of us had had an opposite reaction to life. We had such a low self esteem that we completely gave up on trying to make others like us. Our self esteem was so low, we figured nobody would ever think we were special or notice our gifts, so there was no use in trying to do good in school or at work or in relationships. Our decisions and behaviors still were a reflection of our own low self esteem and a way of reacting to our perceived ideas of what other people thought about us.
As we gain confidence and self esteem though our new healthy lifestyle we will be able to take charge of our life on a whole new level. This process will not happen overnight. But every day that we make choices to live in the healthiest manner possible, our confidence and esteem incrementally increases. Eventually we look back at how our lives have changed for the better over time and we celebrate because we see we have broken free from our old habits of trying to control what other people think of us. We find that by taking care of our health day after day we have grown to love ourselves more and that we have come to experience a greater connection with the love of our Creator.
Making a decision every day to nurture something will help in the path toward emotional and spiritual freedom. When we see that our loving effort has made something grow we will experience genuine happiness. Start small! It may not be time for you to adopt a pet, although pets can be wonderful companions to nurture. If your life has been quite chaotic in recent years, it may be a good idea to start by getting a potted plant to nurture. Perhaps there is something in your life already waiting for nurturing. You may not need to go out and buy a new plant. Is there a flower bed in your yard that is full of weeds? You could make a decision today to pull the weeds out and make it a little bit more beautiful every day for the rest of the summer. Is there a relationship in your life that needs nurturing? Perhaps you can send a card to someone. Are you yourself in need of nurturing? Maybe you can give yourself a wheatgrass facial or buff and file your nails today.
When we truly nurture ourselves and others, we do it with a generous heart. We do it because it makes us happy — not because we expect to influence anybody’s opinion about us.
Daily Inspiration: “Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don’t over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness.” ~ Leo Buscaglia
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Robert Morgan, Naturopath 