 This question has been rolling around in my universe for the last few weeks, and I made this image as kind of a reminder to myself. It came out of reading Brene Brown. As many of you know, she speaks about courage vs. comfort in several of her books and talks. She explains that it stems from her discovery of the famous arena speech by Teddy Roosevelt, a quote which inspires me and gets my gears turning and I just wanted to share: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt At the end of the day, Brown's question to herself and to anyone who's like-minded is, "When I had the opportunity today, did I choose courage over comfort?" Did I allow myself to be vulnerable with others? To be my true self? Did I dare greatly today? These are not questions for the timid or the meek. These are questions for those of us who want to live in the arena! It's not an easy thing, and so I'm wondering who else feels this way? Who else contemplates this? Just a peek into my brain lately...but I'm curious, if you've read this far ;) what does this inspire in you?
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 You did it! Nice work, you guys! Way to take some time to put yourself first and focus on your health and wellness. It really is at the root of our lives: how we feel, how we show up for people (or not), how we perform at work, how inspired we feel, all depends on the quality of our health. After these 5 days, hopefully you see that you don't have to make drastic changes to see results and start to feel great! Small changes add up to big results, so go easy on yourself.
As you move into the weekend at the close of our detox, I just wanted to say a couple things about going ‘off’ your detox. While I completely understand the urge to want to drive straight to Dunkin’ Donuts after this, may I just take a moment to suggest a couple things? You’ve spent the last few days giving your body a break and allowing it a chance to reboot a bit. Hopefully, you're feeling pretty good at this point. Keep in mind, it will be kind of a shock to your system if you just flip the switch and eat everything in sight. You may want to consider easing back into things. I suggest maintaining the principles of this detox and slowly adding things back in. This can also be an excellent time to try to observe how your body reacts to certain foods. Many of us have an intolerance to some foods and we don't even realize it because we’re constantly eating them and our body never gets a break from them. Many of the culprits are the ‘inflammatory foods’ we cut out this last 5 days. My personal one is wheat. My body reacts within hours of me eating anything with wheat in it. I can tolerate a small amount, but if I’m eating it every day, watch out! I get all the classic signs of inflammation: bloating, digestive issues, fatigue, allergy symptoms. I feel puffy, uncomfortable and tired. Not fun! So, I limit my intake of wheat. That being said, I never would have noticed this before had I not removed wheat from my diet for a period of time and observed what happens when I reintroduced it. The way I felt from wheat plagued me for years! Now, I’m just so grateful I took the time to observe my eating. I feel light years better and equally important, I’ve cut down on inflammation in my body, which as I get older, believe me, I appreciate! Inflammation is the driving force behind signs of aging, and not just cosmetic ones, its also the basis of all illness. So, maybe take this opportunity to do a little observation of your own eating. Think of it as an experiment. And be sure to let me know what you discover! Lastly, for those of you who may want to continue working on your health and wellness in the New Year, consider “Self-Gifting’ yourself some sessions with me! I offer health coaching in person or online via video chat. You can keep your momentum going and set yourself up right for 2017! As you're running around buying gifts for everyone else don't forget to do the same for yourself. Invest in you. You're so worth it. We're almost to the end of our 5 days here! How're you guys feeling? There's only 2 more days to go. You've come this far, I have no doubt you can finish strong. Set your intention this morning to choose your health, your wellness, choose YOU. It's the small steps that add up to great things. Are you ready for great things? Make the decision now. Choose today. You're so worth it!  How's everyone feeling today? Maybe a little tired? A little cranky? Some headaches? Or maybe you feel fine! This is all normal during a detox. Just take this day by day, staying with the discomfort or fatigue, knowing it will pass. Drink lots of water and get your rest. Make sure you get clear on your WHY that I posted about yesterday. Having that WHY crystal clear will keep you going through those tough moments. At the end of this 5 days, you will emerge, stronger, healthier and ready to take on December!  Being disciplined can be tough. This is why I ask people to get clear on ‘WHY’ they want to make a change to their lifestyle. Because we ARE going to be tempted. We ARE going to be confronted by situations that make us uncomfortable, or angry, or tired. We ARE going to feel weak and want to revert back to our old habits, it's inevitable.
In those moments, the thing that keeps you on track, is having something bigger than the temptation. Something that reminds you of why you started all this. Something that resonates within you and jerks you out of whatever trance you're in, thinking you can eat an entire box of doughnuts and not suffer for it later. Mind you a 'WHY' is not "I want to be the skinniest person at work....etc", a WHY is something that elevates you to be the best you can be like, "I want to be as healthy as I can so my daughter and I can run a marathon for Leukemia in June of next year". That thing that brings you back and reminds you of who you are and what you are trying to do. Knowing that WHY helps you remember what you are working on achieving. And that WHY allows the DISCIPLINE to return and put you back on track. It makes being disciplined a little easier, because once you know what you want, it's hard to be deterred. The word discipline has such a bad connotation to it, but really all it means is knowing what you want, and holding firm on it despite whatever the world throws at you. We tend to get distracted from what we want amid the hustle and bustle of life. We just need a little reminder of what is important to us, and the discipline seems to come naturally. You know how this feels. You've all been there at one time or another, when you just aren't tempted and you know what you need to do. In those moments it's usually because you have something higher motivating you, a 'WHY'. So, if you haven’t thought about it, I’m asking you now to take some time to write down your WHY. Get clear on what you want and why it is important to you. Then, write it down, keep it close so you can see it daily and remind yourself of what's important. We all need a little reminder every now and then. |
