DAY 14 That Scale & Daily Motivation links

Good Evening Journal,

Thinking about my regular Monday weigh-in tomorrow...at first I was excited but nervous. The "old tapes" in my head said what if, after all your spouting off this week, you don't lose anything? Or, even worse, gain! My answer is, MUST be, so what..so what?? If that happens, I will take a minute, honestly evaluate, make any necessary course corrections, and GO ON. Just keep going.

Some people get all bent out of shape about the scale. I learned a while ago that it's JUST INFORMATION...it's just a tool. It can't MAKE me feel any which way...I choose how I feel by what I choose to believe and think. At least with the information, I can make informed decisions, not wonder...so, I am thankful for that tool, the scale. :-)

And that's not even my topic for today ;-) The next topic on my "need to get CONSISTENT" list is: Daily mental/motivational input. Actually, I find this one fun. I LOVE reading all the motivational stuff you find on the internet and in good books. Believe me, I have read a slew of self-improvement type books over the years...trying to "improve me", to change me, to get to the bottom of why I used food for EVERYTHING except nutrition.

Food was my drug of choice, whether sad, mad, happy or glad. I wore God's ear out begging Him to change me, to help me, to do SOMETHING. Yet, bottomline I wasn't willing to "lose the food". Oh, I wanted to "lose the weight" but NOT the food. Not really...not for good. It would only last until the next big time stress hit, and then I would NEED my drug again, and lots of it...just this time...and the cycle would start all over again.

I now think of all that positive input over the years as SEEDS, watered by my tears, and finally...finally given the sunshine of my WILLINGNESS to eat responsibly. And now it feels like some of it has grown inside of me...there is SOME of it that I can believe and embrace as MINE. Not all...I don't claim to be there yet, but a lot of it.

Instead of trying to quote all the inspirational stuff here, I think I would just like to remember all the wonderful people over the years who have had an impact on my life. There are teachers, speakers, artists, preachers... and I will probably leave some out, since this goes back a long time. But here goes, in no particular order (you can click on their names if I included links):

• Dr Phil McGraw: especially his 3 books

The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution (are you ready?)

Self Matters (here)

Life Strategies (my fav are the Ten Life Laws)

• Norman Vincent Peale: My first ever introduction in the early 1970's, to that fact that how I choose to think can impact my life, from his book The Power of Positive Thinking."Change your thoughts and you change your world."

• Dr Robert Schuller: from the Hour of Pour tv show...loved to hear the interviews with successful people.

• W Mitchell: "It's not what happens to you, it's what you do about it."

"Before I was paralyzed there were 10,000 things I could do. Now there are 9,000. I can either dwell on the 1,000 I've lost or focus on the 9,000 I have left." - W Mitchell

• Dr Viktor Frankl: Survived years in Nazi death camps; wrote Man's Search for Meaning.

One of my all-time favorite quotes, in Man's Search for Meaning: "...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

• Tom Venuto (here for blog)(here for About Tom)
• Carol tuttle's wonderful short video Remembering Wholeness (here)

• Og Mandino: my favorite book of his is The Greatest Salesman in the World (written in story-telling format).

• Zig Ziglar: YouTube video...highly recommended! (here)

• Napolean Hill: author of Think and Grow Rich; the principles apply to life in general

• Helen Keller: "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar." (here for About Helen Keller)

• Ralph Marston: (here for the Daily Motivator) Love it!

(here for About Ralph Marston)

• Michelangelo Buonarroti: Italian Sculptor, Painter, Architect and Poet, b.1475 - d.1564

(here for pics of Sistine Chapel)

(here for About him)

(here for links to List of Works)

"There is no greater harm than that of time wasted." " I am still learning."-- Michelangelo

• Vincent Van Gogh: "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." (Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890) An artist, not a book author, but wrote numerous letters revealing a passionate heart and deep thinker.

• Dan Michelson: my pastor; made me feel welcome, accepted, and at home; from him I learned about LAFing...Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness. (here for teaching podcasts)

• And the best selling book of all time, the Bible

"Mulberry Tree" Vincent Van Gogh 1889

From Dr Phil's book: ""Having specific, carefully mapped out, vividly envisioned goals is an absolute requirement for success."

My verse for today: "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my hearts delight..."

My quote for today: " I am still learning." Michelangelo

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta

=^..^=