Some of you have asked questions regarding the "no sugar" challenge for this week. I think each person will have to decide what "no sugar" means to them. For me personally, I will be avoiding deserts, candy, cake, ice cream and the like, but sugar from more natural foods like fruit and milk will still be acceptable. Take for instance last night...I had a group dinner at my house where I ate a few candied pecans on my salad (without even thinking about it) but I did pass on the homemade peach cobber and ice cream. Even though technically I ate some sugar, I still count it as a successful evening over all.
There are times in life where you just have to do the best you can with what you have to work with. If I had all the money in the world, I would love to shop at Whole Foods and buy "organic" everything. Unfortunately our grocery budget doesn't allow this so I have to pick and choose what is important to me. And yes, my kids still love to eat fruit snacks and bright orange-colored macaroni and cheese! But they also like things like shredded carrots and apples dipped in peanut butter so I do my best to strike a balance in the things that they eat and try not to beat myself up about it.
I think we as women really give ourselves a hard time by constantly striving for a state of "perfection." We feel a need to be perfect mothers, perfect wives, perfect friends, perfect sisters, etc. while also trying to attain the look of perfection we see glaring down at us from lofty billboards and magazine covers. When we fail to meet these impossible objectives, we get down on ourselves and wonder why we can't do or be better. If you have ever had any of these feelings, you might like this Youtube video. I found it very interesting to watch and certainly put things in a better perspective for me...
Really makes you think, doesn't it? No wonder people become depressed when they strive to attain something that isn't even real!!
So instead of striving to attain perfection, focus more on aiming for precision. Do those things repeatedly that give you the results that you want to see. This doesn't mean that you won't make mistakes along the way, but as you learn from them, you will start to develop a more concrete pattern for success in every aspect of your life. You will start to see the value that you have to offer to this world regardless of the shape of your nose or the girth of your hips.
Talking Point: Do you ever get discouraged when looking at magazines or billboards and their images of what a person should look like? What is something you did today that makes a difference in the world? And don't overlook the small things either...like today I wiped down the treadmill after I was done using it so that the next person wouldn't have to run in my sweaty mess. I guess I made the world just a little bit better!
I don't have to look at magazines and billboards, everyone I'm related to has always been much thinner than me...and yeah, everyone loses in the compare and contrast game. It's lame, because no one else can be you, so why do you want to be like someone else, right? :)
ReplyDeleteUm, today, I took my babies to the pool. They loved it. It expanded their little world.
Some good thoughts Dadra. And so far so good on the challenge. I've been allowing myself some of my diet drinks in moderation and I'll also consume things that have "evaporated cane juice" instead of sugar in the ingredient list. I'm really proud that I threw out the rest of a bag of mini donuts. No point in leaving that around to tempt me. And I also haven't broken the seal on two full containers of Breyer's ice cream in my freezer! This weekend will be the hardest part though, so I'd better not pat myself on the back too much yet.
ReplyDeleteAs for something I tried to do to make the world a better place today. When I was at Target, I picked up a box of Legos (castle set), some gummy bears, and a card to give to a little boy in our neighborhood. He is six years old and was diagnosed with leukemia last spring. I went running with his mom yesterday morning and she told me that he is scheduled for a "double intramuscular thigh injection" tomorrow morning. It's a very powerful drug and it can even stop the heart for about 20 percent of the children who receive it, so they have to have a team of doctors with paddles ready to shock his heart of it stops. I can't imagine such a little boy having to through that and I can't imagine how his parents must feel watching that. Anyway, Paige and I will go over tomorrow afternoon with a little gift for him to try to brighten his day. His mom says he can play with Legos for hours.