The Great Change-Up

Boys and Girls, can you tell me what caused this particular reaction in this picture? Is it...

1. Mom, after too much sugar, white flour or chocolate;
2. Mom, after blogging or working on her writings into the wee hours;
3. Mom, the morning after the seventh day of the Seven Day Whoopie Challenge (please see http://www.bettyconfidential.com for explanation);
4. Some, or all of the above.

We all have those days when, no matter what, we end up in this position after some sort of overload. The word for today boys and girls, is: Change in moderation. Just because it takes you 15 minutes on the phone with the the bank telling you to "please say..." or "please press..." before you are speaking to a human being, it doesn't mean that you must reward your patience with an entire gooey cake, two Grands Cinnabon Rolls, a chocolate shake and a custard cup full of M&Ms. Along with the same idea, it's not healthy to eat to suppress your desire to shove the telephone down the throat of the human being on the other end. It really is okay to have those fantasies...the food ones, as well as the shoving ones!

Food, glorious food, is something some of us use on a regular basis to deal with incompetence, anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness and even, joy. We push those puppies down low with food. It's numbing out, sort of like an alcoholic or user would do to avoid dealing with the challenges of life. When we are almost out of room inside, we realize that something's got to give. A change needs to be made. We spend so much time of our lives living with bad habits. For some of us, change requires us to turn inward to find out who really lives there. When we do, we get to know the most interesting and wonderful people.

The most amazing person one can meet is oneself! When we are able to truly see who we are, it is then that we can decide what we need to keep, and what needs to be discarded. Letting go of something we've owned for so long can be heartbreaking... like a favorite toy or book. Once we realize that the things we need to release are the same things that keep us from growing, it doesn't seem like such a hard thing to do. With the negatives out of the way, the possibilites are endless. We could be the Princesses we've always wanted to be!

It's the journey that matters. As long as we keep moving...every day...doing something that brings us closer to our goal, we can feel good about ourselves and our accomplishments. We are still going to have setbacks, but we can deal with them differently. Instead of eating, drinking or otherwise...how about writing, playing, exercising, walking away from the situation for a while, or in some cases, confronting the challenge head on. "You want a piece of me? Come and get it!"

Then, there is always the Big Guy upstairs! Yes, I mean God. Let him help out when we feel trapped. We can give him our frustration, anger, sadness and disappointment. We can then ask him to simply tell us what it is that he wants us to do. The answers will come.

We need to remember that we can change our lives, one habit at a time, and, we don't have to do it alone!