Thin Blog

I received an email from someone this morning that I never met before. By the end of the letter I was in the presence of a friend who wanted to quit smoking and was afraid she was going to gain weight. I read about her hopes and dreams of what she wanted to accomplish and it was great to hear about her newfound desire to start a healthier lifestyle.

I want everyone to know that what she is accomplishing in her three smoke free days is fabulous. She has quit for three days. The next part of the letter was where I wanted to reach out and hug her and ask her to stop being so critical about herself. She was telling me the wonderful things she has recently accomplished and I could sense the well deserved pride in her achievements. What did worry me was the fact that she gave herself little credit for what she had done. She HAD quit smoking for 3 days. She HAD started an exercise program. I felt as if she was pinning her achievements on something that was to occur in the future and she bypassed the here and now. She was not giving herself the well deserved pat on the back she needed for starting the healthy choices she had recently accomplished.

How often do we all do this?

How often do we look in the mirror and only are critical of what we see? I exercise and then think it was not hard enough. I eat healthier foods and I then am critical that maybe I ate too much. I look in the mirror and all too often I only see a reflection that is too critical of what is inside the body that is only a vessel that carries my spirit. We all need to stop and we all need to take a moment to live in the moment. We need to stop looking at the clock and waiting for 5 o’clock. We need to stop being so unloving about ourselves and the little accomplishments we make on a daily basis.

So yes Margaret, I am proud of you and I know that if you can only use your mind to harness that infinitely powerful spirit you will not only be able to quit smoking but you will be able to lose the weight and be the person you really see in the mirror. Because that critical reflection is really not you, it is only the outward manifestation of what you allow to be.

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