Change is Inevitable
One of my strongest memories from college was learning that "change is inevitable. The only thing constant in life is change."
Change is not just inevitable about your body, your appearance or physical attributes; change is about everything. On the day that you get married or during your honeymoon everything is perfect. You imagine that it will always be that way. Surprise! Things change, and not always the way you hoped.
"Life is what happens while you're busy making plans"
~John Lennon
Forced to Change
What happens when something happens in your life when you are forced to change. That kind of unwanted event can be very stressful, such as a death, divorce, suddenly losing your job, or a diagnosis of an illness.
"Man plans, God laughs"
(sorry for the sexist language- women plan as well!)
The Challenge of Acceptance
When your life takes a change that you didn't expect and don't want, this is the hardest challenge: acceptance. I don't want to equate gaining weight with a terrible diagnosis or life threatening event. But for many, that's what it feels like.
Turning Lemons Into Lemonade
This is a story of an amazingly talented young violinist whose tragic injury could have been seen as a devastating ending to her promising musical career. So gifted was she that world-famous violinist Itzhak Perlman had taken her on as his private student at the Juilliard School.
But she was able to turn her loss around by finding another path. Listen to this audio to hear her story…
Use Inspirational Stories to Redirect Your Life's Path
Perhaps your identity, the way you saw yourself, was as an attractive, slender person. But life has a way of changing plans in ways we don’t prefer. Instead, you have a larger body than you want, which has affected every way you see yourself. Your negative belief about your body may have led you to limit your aspirations, goals, and behaviors.
If you have tried dieting for years but cannot achieve the goal of sustained weight loss, you may indeed feel depressed, guilty, shameful, and many other negative emotions. You may not have been able to accept yourself in the body you now have, although you have done everything possible to change it. That's why it's so important for you to learn the FACTS about weight issues, and not to fall for the Diet Industry lies that tell you all you have to do is "eat less and exercise more."
Why is this story pertinent to you if you feel stuck in a larger body? They say the things that don’t kill you make you strong. But I don’t necessarily believe that happens for everyone. Some are defeated and can’t see a new way to happiness. Others take time to discover their new identity. And for others still, their problem issue causes them to redirect their lives and find a new purpose that they would never have had IF their life had not changed their direction!
Which Path Will You Choose?
Will you use knowledge that your body/weight is most probably a permanent condition to follow the words in "The Serenity Prayer?" Or will you spend you life in the wasteful, unhappy pursuit of perfection of your body? It's not "giving up," to stop dieting; it's finding a higher calling that will move you in the direction to rediscover your true purpose and give you a happier and more fulfilled, meaningful life.
