Thursday, November 12, 2009

Changing Seasons

Happy Thursday!  I awakened to a beautiful Michigan November morning - bright sunshine and a hard frost on the ground.  While I prefer the beauty of a Michigan spring or summer, I am mindful that each season has its own beauty.  My challenge is to look for and celebrate the beauty when I see it. 

Looking back, my weight loss journey had its seasons, too.  Times when things felt like spring - fresh, new, brimming with hope and expectation.  Other times felt like summer, warm and sunny - a "life is good" kind of season.  Then there were those other seasons, where things weren't exactly springy or summer-like.  Times when the joy of being on plan was slipping away and it was starting to feel old - an autumn of the heart.  Worst of all were those winter times - when it was just hanging on and doing it, when it felt like I would be on the program forever - a Narnia winter, where there is always snow and never Christmas.

Being on plan for 11 months meant that I went through all four seasons of Michigan weather while experiencing all four seasons of emotions.  The emotions didn't always coincide with the weather, which made things interesting at times :-). 

What I learned was that each emotional season had its own cause for celebration and joy.  It was easy to find those reasons in the spring and summer, challenging in fall, and even more challenging in winter.   Sometimes all I could celebrate during those challenging seasons was that somehow, by the grace of God, I was still hanging in there and still on plan.  I recognized that learning to do the right things for myself, whether I felt like it or not, was something in and of itself to celebrate. 

The choice is ours.  We can choose to stay on plan, regardless of which emotional season we're in, or we can choose to wait for more favorable weather.  We can choose to celebrate the season we're in, or not.

What is your choice today?

No comments:

Post a Comment