Wednesday, July 25, 2018

July 25th, 2018 One More Time

July 25th, 2018 One More Time

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

Keeping tonight's blog post short on this end. This evening's group support conference calls were wonderful. It's such a blessing to facilitate these incredible groups. I'm extremely grateful! It's truly something special.

The following is an edited republish from the archives. Edited because many times when I reread a post I can clearly see how I could have communicated better using fewer words, also, my plan and perspective evolves and sometimes learning new things changes my approach and philosophy. I've written some things over the last ten years that makes me cringe, like every time I've written the phrase, "I'm never going back." Oh, I've learned I'm perfectly capable of going back if I decide I no longer need a daily practice of intentional actions and boundaries. 

It isn't easy sometimes because life isn't easy sometimes. 

The parallel streams was a way for me to better understand my own path and a way to communicate a practice in perspective that helps keep me well.

The following never makes me cringe. I've republished this a few times. If you've read it before-- here it is one more time!

The Parallel Streams

The "Lifestream" is everything happening in our day to day lives. The Lifestream 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.

I've also referred to my fundamental elements as my "rails of support." I've set my accountability and support measures on high. When someone makes a comment in the direction of, "you're so strong" or "you must have amazing willpower," I typically thank them and smile, but I know, truly, I'm not that strong and I don't have giant amounts of willpower. What I have are solid rails of accountability and support--and I'm holding onto those rails, each day. They guide me, step by step.

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.

I've written countless paragraphs within the archives of this blog all about the "lifestream" and the "fundamental elements stream" and how they must run parallel to one another without crossing. And based on my experiences, here's why:

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.

When life demands more attention, we don't have to let go of the elements giving us our positive progress, but we can scale back the amount of energy it uses to operate.

We don't sacrifice the integrity of the elements, we just do what we can do. For me--on super busy days, I have some non-negotiables: 1. Stay within my maintenance calorie budget  2. Hold my abstinence from sugar sacred 3. Write this blog--even if it's super short and/or includes a republished blog post. 4. Stay connected with people "in the same lifeboat."

Today's Featured Tweet:


Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean

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