Friday, August 19, 2011

What if we were to "like" ourselves?

I know that those of us who have struggled with our weight tend to have developed an adversarial relationship with ourselves. We have believed that if we were to beat ourselves up enough, we would finally become the perfect person that we think we are supposed to be.

Well, guess what? It doesn't work! I've spent the majority of my life trying to force myself into perfection. As a matter of fact, when I became mindful in my life, learned how to calm myself, & then noticed how mean I tended to be toward myself, I was able to begin changing this with baby steps.

If you have a Facebook account, you know that you can indicate that you like something by clicking on a tab that says "like" & then there is an indication on the page that you have "liked" whatever it was.

I started catching myself in the act of doing some small things that I liked. For example, if I was running on a trail, & I noticed that someone had dropped a wrapper from something, I would go back, pick it up, & carry it to the nearest trash container. Not a big deal, but I noticed and I "liked" that I had done it. Another example would be if I took a minute to write an affectionate note to my husband, Sid (especially since he is prone to return the favor). Once again, no big deal, but I "liked" that I had done it.

Very slowly the "likes" began to balance all of the things that I did that were far from perfect. I began to develop a kinder attitude towards myself.

Research is now beginning to indicate that being kind towards ourselves enables us to be able to make long term changes, such as losing weight and keeping it off.

Try this out. Catch yourself in the act of doing little things that you can "like".

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