January 11th, 2019 Extra Laps

January 11th, 2019 Extra Laps

Yesterday: I maintained the integrity of my calorie budget, I remained refined sugar-free, I met my daily water goal, and I stayed well connected with exceptional support.

I didn't sleep well last night. The schedule today demands I be present, so here I go. One thing is for sure, today, not unlike a lot of days, but especially on a day like today, I must make certain elements of my plan even more important. My defense will be fortified by staying closely connected with support, having a good midmorning reset meditation break, and making a late afternoon nap a goal for today. I've completed my morning routine, planned, and packed my food bag.

I like analogies. I use 'em a lot.

I look at my daily plan like it's a fortress. The boundaries of my plan are the walls. My job each day is to defend the fort. I have help--I'll call them allies, whose support helps keep my defense strong.

A football team can have the best offense in the history of the game, but if the defense isn't strong, stress is created on offense and games are lost. The fundamental elements of my plan--the food, the physical activity, the logging, tracking--all of these are part of the offense. The defense is where I find my personal accountability and support measures, my daily positive visualizations, spiritual time, and making myself available in support of others. I've put together powerful offenses in the past that were completely void of a good defense. And those times didn't work well.

But life happens, right? And I'm historically an emotional/stress eater. One thing I had to accept: Life wasn't going to stop long enough for me to "get it together."  I had to find a way to maintain consistency come what may. Because life keeps coming. And my time keeps going. So the time is now, regardless of circumstance. 

For me, it takes compartmentalizing.

The Streams Must Not Cross!

The "Life Stream" is everything happening in our day to day lives. The Life Stream includes the ups and downs, the challenges, the victories, the disappointments, The hectic schedules, the family dynamics, the workplace dynamics, the bills, the stress, the joys, the blessings, the expected and the unexpected, the good, the bad...It's life.

The "Fundamental Elements Stream" contain the daily actions of my personal plan. I say "my" because our plans might be very different. Mine is customized to fit my personality, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and sensitivities.

The fundamental elements stream runs parallel, just below the lifestream. The lifestream is running in the foreground and the fundamental elements stream is running in the background--like a computer's anti-virus program. 

If we allow life and all of the energy it takes to maneuver, to negatively affect our ability to maintain consistency in the daily elements of our extraordinary care, then it always will. The frustration of inconsistency will be a common theme if the lifestream is allowed to dip down into the fundamental elements stream on a regular basis.

And if we get too carried away, making the fundamental elements all-consuming, then we run the risk of it crossing up into our lifestream. And that's when it isn't any fun and we dread what we're doing every day.

I do what I do because I know I'm never immune from relapse/regain. It's a daily practice that keeps me well. And taking care of this practice while living and enjoying life, is the goal.

Today, my defense will be running extra laps during practice.

Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Practice, peace, and calm,
Sean

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