June 3rd, 2019 Live It

June 3rd, 2019 Live It

Yesterday was a 4-star day: I maintained the integrity of my calorie budget, I remained refined sugar-free, I exceeded my daily water goal, and I stayed well connected with exceptional support.

I watched my grandson play Tball last night. It's such a joyful experience, for him, for me--watching him play, learn, and be excited about it, it's just the best. He had a great game, too! Two hits, two runs batted in, and he scored twice! His focus was clearly on enjoying the moments of the game and not the final score--proof of that: We're walking to the parking lot after the game and he asks, "Did we win?" Yes, yes you did!

Opportunities to learn from these examples of winning perspectives were right there on the tball field. Leave it to me to think about the parallels on the drive home.

If we focus on building the elements of our daily practice instead of focusing on the final score, we can find the rhythm; the grooves of our daily plan and when we do that, the "final score" takes care of itself.

What are the tools for building a practice?

There's our trigger list, that list of foods that once we start eating we can't stop eating. There's the list of foods we enjoy, the kinds that don't seem to break our internal food thermostat. There's a list of ideas on how we'll be accountable. There's a list of support sources we connect with each day. There's a clear definition of the boundaries in our plan. There's the mental/emotional/spiritual practice we make important each day; things like prayer, meditation, reading, listening, absorbing, consuming positive and supportive material. There's personal journaling where we put pen to paper or keyboard to screen--and we attempt to connect, not with how we think things should be--rather, how they are. What are we feeling? What's working well? What isn't fitting right? Why, why, why are we making this important? Where is this daily practice taking us?? What are the consequences?

With a personal and customized plan in place--utilizing a new set of tools on the table, suddenly--we can set about generating a real enthusiasm for the daily practice that helps us be well and stay well. Enthusiasm without a plan is shallow--and diving into shallow waters isn't a good idea--it doesn't end well.

Creating a doable/workable daily plan practice creates substance--and depth. Dive in with enthusiasm for the daily plan you're creating. Patience for the process means understanding that it will evolve and grow along the way. This isn't about designing the perfect plan from Day 1. It's about getting started.

Simplicity supports consistency and consistency beats intensity, and that's something to get enthused about! When we're enthused and suddenly we're consistently moving in a positive direction, that's when we're in a position to fully believe the positive visualizations on the road ahead.

First things first--this is a daily practice because we only have today. Working the elements of our plan is a one day at a time approach. This is something I must/we must always remember. It is this daily practice that can generate a positive trajectory. The positive visualizations shouldn't take away from this one-day-at-a-time approach, instead--they can serve as a reminder of why this single day perspective is important to maintain.

Positive visualizations are something I've made important from Day 1. It wasn't intentional at first--it was very natural. After a while, with consistent positive progress, I started believing in visualizations awakened from their long-forgotten place in my brain. The visualizations started becoming more creative and intentioned.

Where do we want this to go? What things can we not do today because of our obesity, that we dream of doing someday? How might this path positively affect our health? How will it feel the day the doctor says, "you no longer need these medications?"

Hopes, desires, and dreams--suddenly become things we can believe.

It's all ahead of us. A consistent practice of positive visualizations help solidify our "why?" Why are we doing this? Why is this important to us? Start with those questions and positive visualizations will come.

The game is in progress. Let's hop off the bench and live it. 

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

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