FR Step 10

We’re driving along successfully and all of a sudden we realize we’ve missed an exit, we’re now off course.  However a quick assessment determines we can get off at the next exit and get back on course fairly easily.  In this case we continue our journey without stopping but making a minor course correction.

Our simple plan for simply living is very similar to this, we continue along day-after-day and when we get slightly off course we make a quick correction and continue.  These simple corrections don’t need to derail our journey, there is no need to start back at the beginning or throw in the towel.  These are the common, everyday corrections that we will need to be observant of and make corrections for as the process of living healthier becomes part of our daily routines.

There are times, when you may find yourself completely off-course and it will be necessary to pull over, figure out where you are, make a plan to continue your journey, then get back at it.  It is at these times in our simple plan for simply living that we use the FR Step 10: We continue to make personal inventory and admit when we are wrong.

FR Step 10 allows us to reconnect with our journey, get back on track and move forward.  It allows us to find our way, release what isn’t ours to carry, and be honest and true to ourselves.

If you find yourself slightly off track go ahead and make those immediate corrections and continue moving forward.  However if you find yourself lost, totally off-track, go ahead and pull over, stop the car, suspend your journey but don’t quit!  Use your resources:  FR Support, sponsors, friends, coaches, or even therapy to get a clear map to your journey, then pull your vehicle back on the road and get moving toward a happier healthier you; reset and move forward!

 

Forward Reset (FR) Step 3

We made a decision to entrust our will and our lives to the care of the collective wisdom and resources of those who have searched before us.

Forward Reset - FR 12 Steps

I've come to understand FR Step 3 as surrender.  Surrendering to the wisdom and resources available to me and not trying to modify everything to fit my lifestyle.  After all, while I feel most things in my life are manageable, my compulsive overeating is not something within my control.

In past attempts I would manipulate my food plan to best fit my situation at the time.  This would work for a time but always seem to back me into a corner that for which I found no way out.  My desire was to lose weight quickly and worry about long-term consequences last.  

Today I use a food plan based in science, a proven plan that I can surrender control and let the plan do it's work.  I do have to be mindful but I don't have to control it.

Allowing surrender kind of switches the tracks of compulsive food thoughts.  It stops the cycle mentally because I'm no longer in charge.

Today I am willing to go another day.

-Steve C

 

Feeling hungry but you just ate? Nothing is filling you up?

HALT!

HUNGRY: Maybe you are hungry. Did you get enough to eat at your meal? Is it time for a snack? Don't let hunger get away from you, keep it in check by not starving yourself.

ANGRY: Are you angry? Anger needs to be soothed. Many of use turn to food for the solution. Check your attitude and emotions, are you angry? If so, try and resolve the anger, nothing is worth carrying it around. Release it and let it go.

LONELY: Sometimes we use food in an attempt to resolve loneliness or boredom. Can you find an activity, phone a friend, tackle a task on your to-do list?

TIRED: Tiredness and low energy can result from lack of sleep, overeating, sugar crash, etc. Try to identify if you are really hungry or just looking for a pick-me-up. Sleep is the only resolution to being actually tired.

Find Your Motivation Every Day!

When you wake up each day, take a minute to do a quick inventory of yourself.  Is there stuff you’re carrying that doesn’t belong to you, if so let it go.

Find something to be grateful for this morning.  Think about it for a minute and really feel the gratitude.

Remind yourself what living happier and healthier in your body might be like, feel like, look like.  Use that information to create some mental imagery for a second or two.

 

Once is Never Enough

Once is never enough, every time counts. 

As we continue our journey to living happier and healthier we find ourselves traveling a path that is unfamiliar.  We are learning to live our lives with gratitude, reconstructing our reality, continuing to take inventory of ourselves and releasing what is not ours to carry.

Our new journey is not perfect, we may get lost so we will ask for direction, we may breakdown so we ask for help.  We take encouragement from others, we accept praise and we honestly review criticisms without judgement.

We move along step by step, the progress is more important than the perfection.  Looking back we’re not sure how we’ve made it this far but here we stand. We had to be entirely ready to make changes and changes have led us here.

Today I am grateful for my imperfect journey.  I am learning that my goal need not be perfection but progress.  It is not enough to do it once, every time counts!