I Surrender!

"We are always fighting. We are fighting for the job, we're fighting for the relationship, we're fighting our partner or parents to be a certain way, we're fighting to maintain our fixed agendas. We're fighting to get people to understand us, we're fighting to get our body a certain way, we're fighting to make money, we're fighting to avoid failure, we're fighting to be what we think we should be. All this fighting hardens us, and makes us sick. Fighting has to do with getting. And a get state of mind is not a receptive state of mind. When we put out a get mentality, we'll be got. But when we surrender, we receive." --Baron Baptiste.

So what does that mean in regards to your health and wellness goals? Well, you decide.

If you're trying to lose weight, and you try and fight your way to that goal by doing things like:
> Punishing yourself (for real or just in your head) when you mess up
> Wearing clothes that are uncomfortable to remind yourself you're too big
> Depriving or starving yourself

...and you feel badly about it,

You're fighting. Take a few minutes, put down the boxing gloves, and surrender.

It reminds me of one time when I was in 5th grade when I saw a teacher of mine running on the weekend. She looked horrible---miserable, sweaty, in too-tight-too-short shorts. I remember being kind of surprised she was trying so hard at something like that. Coincidentally, in school the next Monday I heard her talking to another teacher about running.

She said, "I went running on Saturday, but I decided it's just not for me. I'm just going to be fat and happy for the rest of my life."

So---that's not the kind of surrendering I'm talking about! I'm talking about the kind of surrendering when you stop beating yourself up to help you reach your goals. Yes, you have XYZ about yourself that you are not entirely fond of. However, working WITH it instead of AGAINST it will yield better results.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now is a great time to focus on your health---you have time before Christmas comes around to balance out any overindulgances you may have experienced in the past week.

Pick something that will help you. Here are a few ideas:
>workout one extra time this week
>eat an extra salad this week
>try a green smoothie!
>go on youtube and find a guided meditation that seems interesting, and meditate/relax for 10 minutes
>do yoga

Whatever you do, make it be a positive experience. If you feel a little chunkier than normal this week, find your most comfortable, flattering outfit and wear that!