[CHANGES] Let Go of the Struggle

[Sandra Ahten]

When my sister quit smoking, she gave me the best piece of advice. She told 
me when the urge to smoke entered her mind she just told herself, “forget 
it, I’ve already decided.  Just for today I am not smoking.” Period. End of 
sentence.

It is a great piece of advice. Stop running through every possible scenario. 
Stop asking yourself, “Is this reason enough?” “Is this enough stress to 
warrant it?” If I do have just one, will I be able to stop again tomorrow? 
If I was going to have one, would I have it now or wait until I could get my 
own brand?

Simply and decisively to say to myself, “I’ve already made up my mind for 
today.”

Quitting smoking is difficult. So is changing your eating habits. So is 
deciding to “let go” of a tormenting issue. But we need to have success. We 
need to have days were we are not living in the “problem.” These days will 
build upon each other and day by day your vision of yourself will change. As 
your vision of yourself changes – your behavior changes and things that used 
to be very difficult—suddenly seem possible.

What can you decide about today? Here are some realistic and possible goals 
you might consider.

--Decide to stop the negative self talk. Just for a day. Dieting or not. 
Exercising or not. Just for today stop criticizing yourself. When a negative 
judgment comes into your head have a line prepared. “I’ve made up my mind 
that I’m fine today. If that is still an issue in the morning, I’ll tackle 
it then.

--Exercise. What form will this take for you? Decide and move on. Don’t talk 
yourself out of it.

--Make conscious food choices. How can you do that? Simply by writing 
everything down that you eat. If you are currently binge eating or rebelling 
against the last “diet” -- now is the time to do something different. No 
other expectations, just conscious eating by writing down what you’ve eaten. 
– or –

--Plan your food. Write down what you are going to eat for the rest of today 
or tomorrow. If you need to leave room for variables OK, – but get a plan 
down. Then follow it.

--Let go of your problem. Who is s/he? Is it a tormenting boss? A way-ward 
child. Just for today, can you decide not to participate in your usual dance 
with them? What is the merry-go-round that you get on? Just for today, 
change your reaction. Empower yourself to be different if order to 
experience the feeling. Make your plan and stick with it. Period. End of 
Sentence.

At the end of the day spend 5 minutes evaluating your plan. Give yourself 
credit for what you’ve done right and evaluate what you need to change. If 
you did fine with your plan, don’t necessarily change it to make it “better” 
or “more.” Change can come without struggle. Let’s let go of the struggle. 
Life is meant to be enjoyed -- let’s do just that!

Hope you are well and that our paths cross soon.
Sandra

_________________________________________________________________
Learn how to help protect your privacy and prevent fraud online at Tech 
Hacks & Scams. http://special.msn.com/msnbc/techsafety.armx