Love, Again and Again

I am one of those who feels once something is accomplished, it ought to STAY accomplished.  If you clean the house, it ought to stay clean.  If you wash the car, it ought to stay shiny.  If you learn how to take care of yourself, it ought to be second nature and require no further attention!

As you know, houses and cars don't stay clean forever, you have to keep cleaning them.  Learning how to be healthy isn't a one-time thing, either.

Someone told me recently that it takes 3-5 years to make a permanent life change if it is something big.  At least a year to establish the new behaviors, at least a year to ingrain them as habit, and another year to make it sustaining, at a minimum.  So lots of time to experience set backs.  Fall down 7 times, get up 8.

I've developed some really good habits in the last couple years -eating healthy, exercising, getting stronger and more stable. It frankly astonished me how quickly those habits faded when I started moving away from them and how easily it came back to me to be self-critical and biting.

So, I'm doing yet another reboot and focusing on the very basics: eating and exercising.  Nothing terribly complicated, it just that I have often unrealistic expectations of what I SHOULD be doing, when what I REALLY should be doing is being kind to myself and setting myself up for success.

Back to my easy to remember food rules: Eat every 3-4 hours, and eat protein every time I eat.  Don't buy candy to just have it around.  Love myself enough to make the effort.

Sweat for 15 minutes a day.  Yeah, yeah, I was doing an hour of hardcore workouts and being all badass -but that seems really overwhelming to jump back into.  So, I'm just going to focus on getting at least 15 min of exercise in.  If I feel like doing more once I get into it, fine, but no pressure to keep going if 15 min is all I can handle.  I like getting sweaty.

I am still imperfect at the love stuff.  Love is patient and kind and nonjudgmental.  I can try practicing that with myself, too.

1Cor 13: 4-8
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails.