"Thinking differently" Thursday

Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious. ~Bill Meyer


Is that a great quote or what?!?! No matter what we do, no matter how much weight we lose, no matter how hard we've worked, it all comes back to how much you've changed your beliefs. If you lose 100 pounds but still believe you're a fat person, you will eat your way back to your highest weight. You have to change your core belief system FOR GOOD if you want change to be lasting change.

This week, when you find yourself being swayed by the negative thoughts--the ones that eventually keep you from doing the hard work--write the thought down. Once you've done that, take a look at the words, and think about how they've affected your life so far. What good has come from them? What change have they inspired? You already know the answer, but you have to walk yourself through the exercise to get the impact of it.

Now, think about what words you can use to replace that negative message. "It's hard right now, but I need to keep moving forward." Or, how about "I don't want to do this, but I know I will be proud of myself when I do." Or, what about "My family needs me right now, but I owe myself at least 5 minutes to take care of ME, too." We need to stop ignoring, minimizing, chastising, judging, labeling, and negatively prioritizing our needs at the expense of others' needs. We also need to be really honest with ourselves by realizing and admitting that we continue to do so in order to give ourselves permission to eat the food that comforts/calms/distracts/de-stresses/and keeps us company.

Plant a seed that will harvest Golden Delicous or Jonas Gold--crab apples are easy to grow but really distasteful to swallow. Rake up the old seeds, clear out the field, and plant brand new seeds. Will some crab apples still pop up between our Golden Delicious and Jonas Gold? Yes. But they will be few and far between and much easier to harvest and destroy.

Have a great weekend!