New You

We are fast approaching a new year. Would you like to have a healthier you? Here’s the secret to achieving that goal.

Decide that this is going to be your reality.

I know, you’ve tried that before and it didn’t work. We all have the experience where we decide to do something and then when it comes to it, we act as if we had never made that decision.

It isn’t easy, I know. Here is the key that works for me.

Talk to your inner self and tell that self that things are going to be different. Tell it that you want to live life differently and so new ways of dealing with life will have to be learned. No longer will you relieve stress by eating a half gallon of ice cream, you will go for a walk instead.

Your inner self won’t like this change. It is used to dealing with life with all your old defense mechanisms and excuses. It doesn’t want to learn new ways.

When old ways of dealing with things crop up, remind your inner self that this is no longer the way things are done.

Now that you have that part under control, you can begin to decide what types of health issues you want to deal with. Do you want to lose weight? How much? Do you want to become stronger, more flexible? How will you do that?

Learning to take control in this way is a much better way to have the life, the body you want. Without the control, you are at the mercy of your inner self and what life throws at you each day.

Namaste!

What do you do when things don’t work out the way you want or expect? Many people think that they have to be in control of everything and when they are not they fear the results!

One major question might be; do you believe in circumstance and coincidence or do you believe that everything happens for a reason? If you believe in circumstance and coincidence, then you need to try to control as much as you can. To let things just run wild with no direction would be unthinkable! The problem comes when things don’t go your way. It is so easy to start thinking that you are not doing things right, less than you should be, a loser!

If things happen for a reason, then you can let go of the outcome of events, knowing that they turned out for the best somehow. You may think this is an unreasonable way to live, that it is irresponsible, but then, what do you believe is behind the reason?

If you believe that there is some sort of Higher Being, call it God, the Infinite, the Source, whatever your term, then things turn out due to the overall flow of that Creative Force. Let me give you an example.

Each Sunday, I video my sermon at the church I serve and post them on the church’s website. This last Sunday, the person who usually does the taping was not there and I asked someone else to step in. They didn’t get a single second of it. They didn’t quite understand that camera and thought they were taping when, in fact, they were not. Now, I could have been very upset! My reason for putting the video on the web is so that more people can see it than come to our church. Shut-ins, those who live far away, people on vacation, lots of different people watch that video. They will not see this Sunday’s because it was not taped.

Instead of being angry, I felt that there must have been some reason why it did not get done. Perhaps I said something that would have really hurt someone or caused them to suffer in some way. Perhaps I said something that someone needs to hear, but it was not time yet. I believe the Infinite flows through me and all around me. There are no circumstances, no coincidences. All things flow together for some bigger reason than me. To stay in the flow, to live in the flow of this Divine stream is the only sensible way to live! Any other way is just too stressful.

So back to the question; how do your handle these little bumps in life? Do you have to control them or are you in the flow?

Yesterday I wrote about naming your demons, be they negativity, laziness, or whatever, to control them. This process of naming what blocks you is not something new. People, wise people, have been doing it since, well, since they understood that it helped.

When you give your demons ( I use the term to indicate those things that stop you from having a full life ) a name, you exercise some control over them. It gives you familiarity over them and causes you to feel a sense of control. Giving them silly or fun names just makes it that much better!

I will tell you a couple of mine. I have a negative side too and my negative demon is named Ned. I can feel Ned cringing just from the fact that I am writing about him. He doesn’t like it because I have just that much more control. Another is Sid. I have a problem at times being side tracked. I get to reading something and before you know it, I have lost an hour or two. Side-track Sid is the culprit. All I have to do when I find myself getting off track is to call Sid into line and things straighten out.

You may think this sounds strange or a little flippant, but I urge you to try it. Be honest with yourself and find those things in you, those demons that keep you from being the creative reflection of the Infinite that you are supposed to be. Give them a name. Make it a name that you find funny or light hearted. Start to use the name when you find yourself being influenced by those desires. See if it doesn’t work!