Post by Teresa on Aug 22, 2009 10:58:00 GMT -8
I came across this article on Peertrainer today and I thought it was good. It is a secular article by a non-believer, so it totally leaves out the important dimension of our relationsihp with God. But it still has good things to say, so I wanted to share it with you.
It is written by Joshua Wayne, and Joshua is a Personal Development Coach and Trainer who focuses on weight loss, fitness and mind/body wellness.
Here is his article...and feel free to post your ideas, reactions and comments to it on this thread:
We all want happiness in life. It really doesn’t matter where you come from, how much money you have, what neighborhood you live in- what you ultimately want in life is happiness. You want to feel good about yourself, the people around you and you want to feel positive and optimistic about what life has to offer.
If you’re reading this, then it’s also likely that at some level you believe that losing weight will help you get closer to your happiness. You want to lose weight because you believe it will bring you closer to being happy.
Happiness can be a bit of a tricky topic, though, for 2 reasons:
1. It’s such an individual thing, and means something different to everybody.
2. Because very often the things that we think will bring up happiness in reality will not. They might even bring us greater frustration and unhappiness.
When it comes to understanding and mastering the connection between weight loss and happiness, I have found that there are three different things you need to look at that can really make the difference. You may have found that just one of the three will apply to your situation, or elements of all of them may be necessary.
1. Courage- Sometimes there are some significant emotional issues that stand between you and losing weight. I particularly find this to be true among people who have a lot of weight to lose. Ultimately, what you need is courage to face these issues. Finding this courage and working through your issues will bring you so much closer to not just the health and body you want, but true lasting happiness.
2. Discipline- You may have a strong drive to lose weight, but you just don’t follow through. Maybe you’re good for a few weeks or a month, but then you lose your focus. Developing discipline to stay focused on your goal can get you over the hump and on track to the weight loss and happiness you desire. You don’t have to go after all bad habits at once- in fact, it’s probably not a good idea to do so. But it is a good idea to start gradually building your discipline for focusing on one or two things at a time.
3. Self-acceptance- Sometimes the things we think will bring us happiness in actuality will not. Be careful that you don’t get caught chasing perfection. Sometimes we think losing those last 10 pounds will make us happy, but we finally loose them and discover that we still are not happy. Then we think it’s something else that will do the job. I’m not saying don’t go after the last 10 pounds, but be careful that you’re stuck chasing after goal after goal thinking each one will bring you happiness only to find they don’t. What may be necessary is to work on your self-acceptance, and accepting yourself as you are- not endlessly chasing a sense of perfection that doesn’t exist.
It is written by Joshua Wayne, and Joshua is a Personal Development Coach and Trainer who focuses on weight loss, fitness and mind/body wellness.
Here is his article...and feel free to post your ideas, reactions and comments to it on this thread:
The Relationship Between Losing Weight And Happiness
We all want happiness in life. It really doesn’t matter where you come from, how much money you have, what neighborhood you live in- what you ultimately want in life is happiness. You want to feel good about yourself, the people around you and you want to feel positive and optimistic about what life has to offer.
If you’re reading this, then it’s also likely that at some level you believe that losing weight will help you get closer to your happiness. You want to lose weight because you believe it will bring you closer to being happy.
Happiness can be a bit of a tricky topic, though, for 2 reasons:
1. It’s such an individual thing, and means something different to everybody.
2. Because very often the things that we think will bring up happiness in reality will not. They might even bring us greater frustration and unhappiness.
When it comes to understanding and mastering the connection between weight loss and happiness, I have found that there are three different things you need to look at that can really make the difference. You may have found that just one of the three will apply to your situation, or elements of all of them may be necessary.
1. Courage- Sometimes there are some significant emotional issues that stand between you and losing weight. I particularly find this to be true among people who have a lot of weight to lose. Ultimately, what you need is courage to face these issues. Finding this courage and working through your issues will bring you so much closer to not just the health and body you want, but true lasting happiness.
2. Discipline- You may have a strong drive to lose weight, but you just don’t follow through. Maybe you’re good for a few weeks or a month, but then you lose your focus. Developing discipline to stay focused on your goal can get you over the hump and on track to the weight loss and happiness you desire. You don’t have to go after all bad habits at once- in fact, it’s probably not a good idea to do so. But it is a good idea to start gradually building your discipline for focusing on one or two things at a time.
3. Self-acceptance- Sometimes the things we think will bring us happiness in actuality will not. Be careful that you don’t get caught chasing perfection. Sometimes we think losing those last 10 pounds will make us happy, but we finally loose them and discover that we still are not happy. Then we think it’s something else that will do the job. I’m not saying don’t go after the last 10 pounds, but be careful that you’re stuck chasing after goal after goal thinking each one will bring you happiness only to find they don’t. What may be necessary is to work on your self-acceptance, and accepting yourself as you are- not endlessly chasing a sense of perfection that doesn’t exist.