The quote for today...
"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and the other comes from a strong won't."~~Henry Ward Beecher~~
I don't believe in willpower. I don't believe in being 'motivated' to stay OP. I think that willpower and motivation are fickle emotions that leave you just when you need them, it seems. However being of strong will doesn't necessarily involve having great willpower. In dealing with our weight related issues I think that we have to learn that we need to think differently about food. When I think of willpower, I think of someone trying to be strong, and denying themselves something. To me that falls under the definition of obstinacy rather than perseverance. Staying OP is never about not eating, it is about learning to eat well, and we do that by persevering. By learning new ways to think of food, by learning to accept that food has many places in our lives. Food is of course fuel for our bodies. But food also has sacred, communal, medicinal, even liturgical uses in our lives. I think that if we approach our weight loss issues from a place of obstinacy, we are using negative energy. When we switch to positive energy and persevere we are learning a new way of dealing with food, which is the key to success.
When I was attending meetings I could always tell which new ones would be around in a couple of months and which would drop out in a few weeks. The ones who looked at working the program as denying themselves certain foods for a certain length of time would drop out at the first sign of weakness. Those who wanted to learn to incorporate new ways of thinking abut food, they were the ones you will see succeed. Now they might take a while to get to goal, but they have the perseverance to learn the new lessons and hang in there when things get rough.
So, the choice is up to you. It's always about choosing and choices. Do you have the perseverance to learn new ways of relating to food, or are you going to try to conquer you weight with sheer willpower and dieting. Sheer willpower may get the weight off, but will it keep the weight off when the amount of negative energy fails to sustain you for the journey.It's your choice, it always is.
Peace and Blessings, (and make good choices)
EB
"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and the other comes from a strong won't."~~Henry Ward Beecher~~
I don't believe in willpower. I don't believe in being 'motivated' to stay OP. I think that willpower and motivation are fickle emotions that leave you just when you need them, it seems. However being of strong will doesn't necessarily involve having great willpower. In dealing with our weight related issues I think that we have to learn that we need to think differently about food. When I think of willpower, I think of someone trying to be strong, and denying themselves something. To me that falls under the definition of obstinacy rather than perseverance. Staying OP is never about not eating, it is about learning to eat well, and we do that by persevering. By learning new ways to think of food, by learning to accept that food has many places in our lives. Food is of course fuel for our bodies. But food also has sacred, communal, medicinal, even liturgical uses in our lives. I think that if we approach our weight loss issues from a place of obstinacy, we are using negative energy. When we switch to positive energy and persevere we are learning a new way of dealing with food, which is the key to success.
When I was attending meetings I could always tell which new ones would be around in a couple of months and which would drop out in a few weeks. The ones who looked at working the program as denying themselves certain foods for a certain length of time would drop out at the first sign of weakness. Those who wanted to learn to incorporate new ways of thinking abut food, they were the ones you will see succeed. Now they might take a while to get to goal, but they have the perseverance to learn the new lessons and hang in there when things get rough.
So, the choice is up to you. It's always about choosing and choices. Do you have the perseverance to learn new ways of relating to food, or are you going to try to conquer you weight with sheer willpower and dieting. Sheer willpower may get the weight off, but will it keep the weight off when the amount of negative energy fails to sustain you for the journey.It's your choice, it always is.
Peace and Blessings, (and make good choices)
EB
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