It’s 2024!!!!
When we cross into a new year there is much anticipation that we will drop all our bad habits, remove all negative thinking, turn our back away from all those that hurt us, work out like a maniac and many other goals we want to make happen in the blink of an eye.
This is great, in theory….
But, I’m going to be the “negative Nancy” and just go ahead and say it doesn’t always work out for some the way the heart intended.
There are a few of those nonhumans that make it happen but for rest of us, it's not always the case. Sometimes, the more we add onto our plate at one time usually results in what we view as failure when we don’t accomplish these goals in our set timely manner such as overnight.
Then, this can result in the same or worse outcome than when we ended the previous year, usually in disappointment.
Here's one example I like to use.
When we partake at the festivities at Thanksgiving, we load up our plate and fill it to the brim. We eat as much as humanly possible and shortly after that we decide that we may have just overdone it. Thus, leaving oneself with the feeling of overindulgence and regret and this feeling usually sticks with us the next day as overdoing it in any area results in things not going back to normal rather quickly.
You drink too much alcohol the karma lasts well past that last drink.
This same type of thing often happens on the New year.
We fill our plate with multiple “resolutions” such as working out, dropping sugar, only permitting oneself to speak and think positive 100% of the time, no more of this and more of that etc.
We sometimes have 10 to 15 resolutions stacked on our plate but by the time we get to January 14th or somewhere around there we realize that many of those goals we have not accomplished, and this sets our mind at a failure state.
We overdo it and sometimes under do it.
The minute you eat sugar, skip a day at the gym, get mad at your spouse or coworker and think something negative you feel a sense of failure and setback which then comes the giving up and waiting until the next Monday or after the next holiday and then again, the next New Year to start this cycle of insanity all over again.
Why not try something different?
It took our bodies years or decades of eating/drinking poorly to get ill physically or emotionally so guess what???
It’s going to take more than a week or two to change those neuropathways that you formed by creating those habits to being with. It can take months or years of speaking and thinking negatively to become a habit. Same for eating and drinking things you know you maybe should not put into your body.
It takes time to train your mind to do the opposite of what you have trained it to do. Give yourself grace. After all, this path you're on is now a healthy one. One that might be slow but its ok.
Let me just say this….. I’m not one of those that believe in speaking and thinking positive all the time because I don’t know…..
Maybe I’m human.
I feel like if someone is being rude to my kids, I am not going to mentally respond or even verbally with “love and light”.
There is great power in positivity indeed but for me personally, at least where I’m at in my walk of life, it’s not realistic all the time. Can that change one day? Sure! But, for now I see more of a balance is to be obtained when trying to change your lifestyle. Unless of course by chance you’re closer to perfect than many of us that struggle ha ha.
For example, when someone makes it a goal to hit the gym so hard January 1st and they take away sugar, gluten, dairy or whatever else you feel is keeping you from your optimal health, this could be more problematic than it's worth. Number 1 your detox symptoms alone will make you want to choke out anyone in your path. That’s why proper detox is essential. I also perceive this to be a form of self-punishment. Let's face it, you haven’t been so kind to your body and that’s why you’re in the situation you’re in. Why punish yourself and go gung-ho and be even more self-sabotaging to your body?
Instead, what if we realize that slow and steady is what wins our race. Our race to be the best us that we have come to earth to be.
What if we set realistic goals instead of loading up our plate with all the future goals, we wish to obtain at one time? Learning to love yourself is like peeling back onion layers. It takes time and each situation you are wanting to heal, or change may have many layers to it so it cannot just be overnight that you wish to see results. If you “fail” it’s not failing unless you give up. The key to loving yourself and healing is to start slow. We live in a world of quick fixes when that is not reality for REAL health. An MD might give you a pill to cover a bothersome symptom but that might cause another issue that needs another symptom to be covered later.
That may work great for them but does it you?
You want emotional pain covered? Take this pill. You want this physical pain covered? Take that pill. As it’s a great idea to get rid of things causing you pain but sometimes overnight isn’t the key.
I removed gluten from my diet as it was posing a problem for my health. It has been 2 months of doing this and I find it much easier as time goes by. There are those times of thinking “man, I just want real bread” but those thoughts are becoming less and less as time goes on.
This has made it where my New Years goals are easier because I already have one thing less to battle. I can move onto my next goal.
For me, this has been a game changer.
I know that sometimes quitting something cold turkey is ideal for some such as, if you just found out you’re diabetic you may want to stop consuming sugar and processed foods right away. But something like alcohol or drugs this can be deadly, depending on how much and how long you consumed to create the problem.
So, literally everything is circumstantial with quitting habits and rerouting your neuropathways. When we put our mind and body in a box and jolt it with a sudden massive, overnight change it just seems counterproductive. Grace is a beautiful thing and so is consistency. Those two things combined is your first step to loving the one you're stuck with for the rest of your life.
Happy 2024.
May this be the year you find you.
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