Tag Archives: Grateful

10 Ways to Improve Your Day

Posted on by
6

While I’m in Charleston, South Carolina, this week participating in and presenting a couple of workshops, I thought I would share a few of my favorite blogs.

This one is from the fabulous Kristin Barton Cuthriell.

  • Smile at everyone you meet.
  • Write down at least two things that you are grateful for today.
  • Do something physical. (Get rid of the excuses. My friend who works out regularly will be running three miles, while my aunt who has had a stroke, will be sitting in a chair doing her foot exercises. One is not more difficult than the other. They both will be pushing themselves appropriately. What can you do?)
  • Drink plenty of water.
  • Do something nice for someone else. (This does not have to be time-consuming. Sometimes it does not take a whole lot of effort to improve someone else’s day.)
  • Plan something that you will look forward to doing. (An evening walk, a dinner out, a vacation.)
  • Set and accomplish a goal. (Yes, accomplishing this list definitely counts.)
  • When you become upset or frustrated, remember that whatever it is that is bothering you may not matter next year, next month, or even tomorrow.
  • Pray
  • Take at least fifteen minutes to do something that you find relaxing. (Observing nature, talking a walk, meditating, taking a warm bath, listening to music….)

Let go of bitterness today and let life in.

Kristin Barton Cuthriell, M.Ed, MSW, LCSW

Kristin is a licensed psychotherapist and educator currently working in private practice, counseling individuals, couples, and families. She utilizes a hope based cognitive behavior approach to therapy and other empirically validated treatments to help individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and difficult life transitions. Prior to entering the mental health field, Kristin spent a decade teaching first, third, and sixth grades. She received a BA in Education from Virginia Tech and went on to earn her Master’s in Education and her Master’s in Social Work. Kristin also enjoys speaking and writing and is currently working on a book designed to help people live more fulfilling lives.

You can read her blog at http://letlifeinpractices.com/

It’s Worth the Weight

Posted on by
6

In yesterday’s blog, I wrote about what’s behind the desire to wave a wand and have all your excess weight magically disappear.

Today, I’m going to talk about some of the reasons it’s worth the weight—to share the true value in experiencing the step-by-step process of releasing your excess pounds.

Because believe it or not, there is value in every experience. What you are thinking and feeling is part of Who you are, and the process you will go through to release the weight once and for all is about your becoming more powerful and true to yourself and Who you want to be.

I know this from experience. My weight and negative self-perception was an issue for me almost my entire life. I began hating my body at a very early age. I focused almost exclusively on its flaws, and what was wrong with me.

My negative self-perception—and my resulting struggle with my weight—raged for more than 35 years. Those negative thoughts bled over into all areas of my life. I was often depressed. I shied away from taking leadership roles at work. I had a hard time making close friends. I didn’t feel sexy or attractive with my husband.

And my struggle with my weight wasn’t because I didn’t know what to do. I taught myself about nutrition and exercise, and several times I got into incredible shape. I ran—finishing one half-marathon and doing all the training for another. I lifted weights. Several times I got down to a size 6. I knew what to do.

Even though I would lose weight, emotionally I didn’t feel any differently. All those problems that I thought would magically be solved by being thinner were still there.

This was because I wasn’t making the changes on the inside. I wasn’t aligning with what I wanted and why I wanted it. I didn’t feel confident in being accepted as the true me, which goes a lot deeper than just how I look. What it boils down to is I didn’t feel lovable because I didn’t love myself.

Because I was making these changes through sheer willpower, it didn’t take much for me to fall back into the pattern of regaining not only the weight I had just lost, but then some.

What ultimately had to change was what was going on the inside. What had to change were my thoughts, emotions and beliefs about myself, what I was capable of, what I deserved.

So in addition to consistently moving my body and eating healthy foods, I began looking for inaccurate thinking and practicing new thoughts of appreciation, praise, and support for my body—and myself. And I began tying this process to my spiritual journey. Accepting the love of All-That-Is (God, the Universe, Source Energy, Higher Coach—whatever works for you) was the path that lead to loving myself.

Successfully making these internal changes helped me not only get down to where I am today—between a size 4 and 6—but to keep the weight off now for more than two years.

Not only do I feel vibrant and alive, and have more fulfilling relationships in all areas of my life, but more importantly, those same internal changes have given me the confidence and self-empowerment to go after the life of my dreams, and reach out to help many, many women feel lean and sexy on the inside so they can be lean and sexy on the outside.

The process of releasing your weight is so worth it because it is a journey of self-discovery. It is reconnecting with your true self. It is embracing your power to create the life of your dreams.

Today I am grateful for all the struggles and challenges, and yes, even pain that I experienced over all those years. Every moment of it helped me be Who I am today, and makes me uniquely able to relate to other women who are using the path of releasing their weight for self-discovery.

If you are in the midst of the pain, you may not be able to feel, hear, or believe this right now, but I promise you, the end result is so worth the weight.

Together we can do it!

 

Photo from www.freedigitalphotos.net

 

 

Look for the Opportunity

Posted on by
14

Experiences that show us what we don’t want are incredibly valuable for helping us learn about who we are and who we want to become.

And I had one of those experiences last night.

Every evening as we are getting ready for bed, my husband and I put out vitamins, supplements, and medications that we take morning and evening. While I may take something for allergies or headaches, most of what I take are vitamins and supplements to support my wellness. Because David has Rheumatoid Arthritis, he has some serious medications that he takes daily.

We had a busy evening last night, ate a late dinner, and I was a little flustered. Instead of being present and focused I was in my head thinking about things I needed to do and going over the events of the day. I was on auto-pilot when I took my pills.

When David reached for his, they were gone!

Opps! What did I just take?

Fortunately it was not his Methotrexate, but was a sleep aid, muscle relaxer, and pain pill. So I decided against calling the Poison Hotline, or running to the store for some expellant, and just went to bed.

While I would have assumed those medicines would have knocked me out, I had a difficult night and dragged myself out of bed late this morning feeling groggy, fuzzy headed, and slightly dizzy. Not how I like to start my day.

My first reaction was to start judging my intelligence for this error, but instead, I chose to look at the opportunity this experience is providing. And there are actually a lot of them.

It’s reminding me how important being present, aware, and mindful is because something I did in a split second could have had serious consequences. And who I want to be is someone who is present, mindful, and aware.

It’s reminding me to be grateful for my wellness and wellbeing. Who I want to be is someone who is experiencing optimal wellness and is thriving.

It’s helping me be flexible in planning out when I will get my workout in today, since I didn’t think getting on the treadmill feeling dizzy was wise this morning. Who I want to be is flexible and able to go with the flow.

It helped me evaluate the priority that writing my blog is. Instead of going back to bed to sleep this fuzzy feeling off, I chose to come in and write. I want to be someone who honors my priorities and goals.

And I know that getting up and getting my blog written will help lead me to having a better-feeling day. And I want to be someone who feels good, is productive, and enjoys what I am doing.

One of the foundation principles for life is that “There Are No Mistakes.” There are only different ways to experience life and remember who we are. Not being present in the moment and taking those pills was just a product of old thinking habits, and is giving me the opportunity to evaluate where I am, think anew, and further commit to who I want to be.

Every experience gives us valuable information about who we are and who we want to become. The next time you make a “mistake,” instead of directing energy to the past and beating yourself up, ask yourself, “What is the opportunity in this experience?” Use it to determine who you are and who you want to become.

Together we can do it!

Photo by YaiSirichai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net