Don't Worry, Be Positive

Just a few thoughts about trying to stay positive. I can only speak for myself (though I know I’m speaking for many), when I say when I’m not taking good care of myself, I’m not feeling good about myself. And I’m not speaking of just a few days of not doing the right things. If you’re overweight or out of shape, you know what I’m talking about.

The key for me has been thinking positive and acting positive. There’s 2 schools of thought about which comes first. I’ll say here that they both can. If I hang around people who are in shape, or get inspired somehow (see my website for more info), by people who are fit and in shape, you can start to do positive things first, then sort of train your mind to think positively like these people probably do. Or, you can learn to think more positively, especially about yourself. Positive affirmations are a very good start. The important thing to note here, is that if you’re down on yourself, you may need a little help to get kick-started. Get on the internet, and start educating yourself.

In the vein of thinking positively, let me share this with you. There’s nothing worse than being out of shape, wanting to start something, then just not getting started. Actually, maybe there is something worse. Being out of shape, starting a program, then stopping again. You might need some kind of external stimulus to help you along. However, nothing will be gained by beating yourself up. Let me repeat, nothing will be gained by beating yourself up. Just take responsibility, and move on. It Can be all in the mind. Here’s my point. If I’m in really good shape, but because of a very busy schedule I miss, let’s say, 4 days of working out. I’m not going to feel like a piece of crap because of it. I know I’m going to get back to it. Just like if I’m sick for a few days. I can’t work out, but I know I’m going to get back in the groove. So, if you were going to start, or just did, then got stalled out again, don’t knock yourself further down. You’re already a bit down. Just learn, no matter how, to pick yourself up.

I must be honest with you and tell you something about myself. I lived much of my life with a very big ego. It’s only been in the past 13 or so years, that I’ve discovered how to change that. First of all, I had to admit to myself that I had very low self-esteem. There’s an entire back-story to this that I’ll get into at another time. The important point here is that I had a spiritual awakening. I, for the first time in many years (since I was a confident child, and prolific teenage athlete), was able to look at myself in the mirror, and truly admit who I was. I was a good person, but I was slowly losing myself because of my bad self image. Once I did this, I was able to drop the ego, and start to rebuild myself, little by little.

The point here is that, for whatever reason, we sometimes build up an image of either who we think we are, or who we think others expect us to be. In either case, usually the ego takes over, and we are no longer able to admit some important truths about ourselves. The end result is, large ego=you can’t tell me anything, I already know. If you’re fat, heavy, out of shape, eating poorly, or have high cholesterol, you might be aging poorly, and in poor health. If you need help feeling good about yourself, or if you just need help getting started in the right direction, don’t let your ego get in the way. There’s so many ways to get started, and so many tools you can use. For more help, or more info, or if you just want to share your stories-successful or not, please visit my site! Be healthy, safe, and happy.