[CHANGES] The journey

[Sandra Ahten]

The Journey

How does change occur? First, by a thought. Everything action is first a 
thought. So if today you are thinking, "I need to exercise more"  or "I want 
to eat healthier" – then congratulations! You have taken the first step.

The second step is to assess if you are ready to do anything about it. This 
can be tricky – because we often have  lofty expectations of ourselves. We 
think we should change in drastic ways and so we don't recognize and honor 
the small steps along the way as positive moves toward achieving our goals.

The more we dismiss the small steps, the more we feel like failure and 
indeed our thoughts turn from "I need to exercise more" or "I want to eat 
healthier" to "I never follow through on my diet plans" or "I'm just not 
going to be able to make any changes right now." These thoughts then become 
the prelude to our actions - the actions that are keeping us stuck.

Can you imagine what would happen if each time you had a thought about food 
or diet you said "I want to eat heathier." Try it just for twenty four  -- 
No matter what choices you end up making. You don't have to actually be 
eating healthier. But with each food choice: Each time you decide which 
restaurant to eat at; When your deciding whether to have a cookie or a fudge 
bar after supper; When you are entering a grocery store – each time repeat 
"I want to eat healthier."  Write it down on your to-do list and post it to 
your refrigerator.

At the end of the 24 hours look for just one healthier choice that you made. 
Look hard. I'm sure you'll find at least one. If you do, then congratulate 
yourself! Don't dismiss any accomplishment as too little. Ask yourself if 
your willing to build on your success.

If you want support in your journey toward a healthy eating and exercise 
lifestyle think about joining the Changes support group. I have a 
co-facilitator, Mary Beth Wade and the people in the groups are great 
support for each other.  The groups are limited to just twelve participants 
and we currently have the following start dates opens:
Tuesday 10am - Could start tomorrow (Oct. 12)
Tuesday 5pm - Have a waiting list (probably have 1 or 2 openings in early 
November)
Saturday 9am - Have openings starting Oct. 23rd.



Indeed every journey begins with a thought. As I am preparing to depart for 
my trip to Thailand many people have asked me, "Why Thailand?" And honestly, 
there seems to be no specific reason except that I could imagine myself 
going there. We have a friend who lives there – but we are not that close – 
yet even knowing he was there allowed me to imagine that I could safely go 
there. So the seed was planted. Then the more I read about it, the more I 
dreamed. I asked myself what I would do if I was to go there. Pretty soon I 
was imaging myself on an elephant ride through the jungle. I was imagining 
myself snorkeling in the reefs and perusing the market in Bangkok. Well, 
those are a few of the things I will be doing in the next two weeks. What 
will you be doing? Dream big and dream small. Take the first action and 
allow yourself to imagine. Take the second step and write the affirmation. 
There is much about life that is uncertain and frightening right now. Let's 
not waste our time in futile attempts to shame ourselves into leading a full 
and glorious life. Let's enjoy our journey.

Sandra

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