What If You Did What’s Possible Today?
Why in the world do we hold ourselves to standards of perfection in some areas and give ourselves complete grace in others?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know any part of my life where I expect myself to be perfect. I don’t expect perfection out of myself at work (I don’t expect mediocrity). I don’t expect perfection out of myself at home (my room is a clear example). So why is it we expect perfection out of ourselves when it comes to following a weight loss or healthy eating plan? One “slip up” and we’ve “fallen off the wagon.”
I used to “re-start” healthy eating plans all the time. Why? Because I couldn’t make it through “perfectly.” One bite of sugar and it was over. Eating one lunch out and my plan was kaput. I felt disappointment and shame because I couldn’t stick to “the plan” perfectly. As soon as one moment of real, imperfect life got in the way of the perfect plan that would help “restart and energize my metabolism,” my plan got blown up because the bar was set to perfection. Anything below that was considered failure. I was caught up in a vicious cycle of not being “good enough.” Twelve good, healthy meals in a row and I let one become the definition of my success. Sounds familiar to a lot of our weight journeys, doesn’t it?
Perfection on any plan isn’t possible, but doing your best is. Trying better each day is possible. Eating more fresh fruits and veggies each day instead of glorious french fries is possible. Eating out one time a week instead of five is possible. Not buying the foods that will trigger a binge is possible. Walking for 20 minutes each day instead of 60 when you’re crunched for time is possible.
Possible relinquishes control; perfection seizes it. Possible gives room to breathe; perfection is like wearing double Spanx. Possible says there is no failure; perfection says anything less is failure.
What if you held your weight and health journey to a standard of possible instead of perfection? What can you do today that’s possible? There’s a whole lot more hope and encouragement when you start doing what’s possible instead of perfect.
