Perfection is an illusion that cannot be achieved by humans. Life on earth is about being the best you possible.  Being the best you is made possible with love. The love of God, self, and each other.  

LOVE IS ESSENTIAL FOR TOTAL HEALTH

This means, believing in, experiencing, sharing, thinking and trusting love constantly. Sticking with my theme of love, I came to realize that the old adages of “slay them with kindness” and “you get more bees with honey” are because people respond to love in healthier and more productive ways than fear. Love encourages us to be our best; love is patient as we learn to navigate this journey called life; and C.A.R.E. is a significant component of healthy love.

WHEN WE ACT OUT OF FEAR INSTEAD OF LOVE

What happens when you fear something?  Often you do your best to get away from that thing or person. However, when you cannot get away, or feel paralyzed by fear, you will attack with the intent to destroy, harm, or hurt.  The natural response of humans is to protect themselves in the face of a threat.

Yet, what happens if there is no real threat? What happens if your limiting beliefs, destructive emotions, or toxic thoughts have clouded your mind, and caused you to lose sight of the truth? You lose clarity. When you lose clarity and forget your purpose and your identity, you can make some unhealthy choices. With repetition, those unhealthy choices become your unhealthy habits.

SOME CONSEQUENCES OF UNHEALTHY HABITS

Our unhealthy habits not only affect our own health (spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, and even financial), but the health and safety of those around us. We have all had the experience where we were consumed by fear and anger, and we said or did something we wish we had not. Unfortunately, sometimes actions taken when you are emotional can ruin your life or the lives of those around you. Ultimately, we have to retrain ourselves to do the healthy consistently, even when we do not feel like it. My suggestion, find a way to make healthy appealing for you.

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON HABITS

I heard someone recently say that “habits are just choices that we have set on default.” Think about that for a moment. There is no thought going into the decision; therefore, you simply act in response to your emotional state. Whenever you feel “any emotion,” your default choice is to reach for something to eat or drink. The important thing to remember is that we are creating our emotional state based on our core beliefs and patterns of thinking. Thus, we can choose to get out of default mode.

PERFECTION HINDERS YOUR WEIGHT LOSS EFFORT

Stop getting caught up in the trap of perfectionism. Trying to be perfect keeps you stuck, trapped in a cycle of losing weight and gaining weight. Perfectionism often is tied to all-or-nothing thinking. Therefore, every time you make a mistake, you swing to the other extreme by overindulging. Learn to find the middle ground, called moderation. Think of the unnecessary stress you place on yourself trying to accomplish the impossible. I have often wondered if behind every procrastinator there is not the belief that they must be perfect. You do not act because you cannot face the reality that you are not perfect.

EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW

If you are trying to be perfect, you are by default not accepting who you are right now. Until we FULLY accept ourselves where we are, we cannot do the work necessary to make sustainable change. Furthermore, if we do not love ourselves right now, we will never create the change we desire.