I had an epiphany.
HOW DO I WANT TO FEEL?
ACT ACCORDINGLY.
About to reach for the salty, processed chips in the cupboard (never mind how they got there), it occurred to me: if I eat these, the after-effect will be that I feel sleepy, bloated, and frustrated at myself for my choice. I loves me some salty chips as much as the next gal, but I just don’t want to feel that way. I just don’t.
And so was born my epiphany. I am embarrassed at its simplicity. But it is truly changing the way I approach so many things in my life. Yes, it’s impacting my food choices. But it is also influencing so much more.
Like you, I want to feel energetic, clear-headed, agile, positive, balanced. Spoiler alert: eating a bag of chips won’t get me the results I’m after. I made the choice to eat an apple and go for a walk instead. My objectives were met. I quelled my hunger with something healthy, and the walk gave added bonus in helping me clear the cobwebs in my brain.
All day long we are faced with choices and of course, not all of them involve food. We have a choice with our attitude as we go to work or get in line at the grocery store. We get to decide how we will respond to difficulties in relationships and when traffic is moving slowly and our appointment gets canceled and the weather is inclement and bad news comes in the mail.
Ask yourself: How do I want to feel? Then go, and act accordingly.
Headed out the door to work? How do you want to feel? What can you do to bring about the feelings you’re after? Even if you work in a challenging environment, you get to decide how you want to feel. In conflict, do you want to feel calm? What can you do to bring that about? If you want to feel productive at your job, what steps can you take to increase your productivity?
What about the relationships with in your life? Want to feel closer to your VIPs? How can you create more connection? What about if you’re in a relationship that is potentially harmful? You need to feel safe. How can you make that happen?
We can’t always control our circumstances, but we are the only ones in charge of ourselves. Ain’t nobody going to live your life for you. YOU get to decide how you will respond to situations. Not only that, you get to proactively go through life with mindset decisions already being made.
I could say I don’t want to go through life angry, impatient and frustrated. But that puts the focus on the negative. What you focus on grows. I want to put my focus on positive attributes.
I want to go through life feeling confident, energetic, loving, rested, helpful, connected, positive, calm, happy, courageous, etc. These things won’t just happen by accident, but will require intentionality on my part. Hundreds of choices every day.
Today, pause and ask yourself how you want to feel in this moment, in this task. As a result of your action now, how will you feel in an hour, in six hours, or tomorrow?
Eat the apple and go on the walk. When you get back, you may find that the chips have lost their appeal. I did.
How about you:
How do you want to feel? How do you want to feel in your body? Finances? Relationships? Work? How will you act accordingly? Your choices today impact your tomorrow.
