I have been a perfectionist as far back as I can remember. I am organized, like to have a clean house almost all the time and balance my checkbook daily. I have this memory of being in high school and proudly bringing my report card home to my dad with 4 A’s and 2B’s. What I remember him saying is, “How can those 2B’s become A’s”? It was very discouraging considering how hard I worked. I realize that my belief has always been that I have to earn love, praise, and respect. I have been looking for some outside thing to tell me that I am ok. The problem is everything I have been searching for is found on the inside.
For the last 10 months I have been studying to be a life coach and while doing so I have been cleaning out my own life from the inside out. I have spent many years trying to have a perfect diet and make sure I exercise as much as I can. I have probably done 50 cleanses in the last 12 years. So what does this mean for me? That’s what I am trying to figure out. Some days when I have it all together I think that I am doing a wonderful job. Other days not so much. One thing I have discovered is that I have given meaning to food and exercise that it doesn’t necessarily have.
Food is something that our body needs to survive. It’s also something that is meant to give us pleasure. The problem is that we have been given so many mixed messages about it. It seems we learn that if it tastes good it’s bad, and if it tastes bad it’s good. Food is neither good nor bad. I think we should all give ourselves a break. We all need days where we do things that we enjoy and take time for us. If that includes sitting on the couch doing nothing, eating a carton of ice-cream or calling in sick to work so you can take a break – then on occasion allow yourself to. When we deny ourselves these simple pleasures then we obsess about foods we have cut out of our diet, or become overworked and stressed out. Then we binge and create addictions to get through our day. Every Sunday I play volleyball and my husband and I have a ritual where we go to Del Taco afterwards. Knowing I have this in my schedule helps me not feel deprived when I am eating salads and vegetables during the week. I know that I can still achieve the results I want in my body while enjoying some french fries here and there. This week I am committed to letting go of the idea that I am weak if I eat something that I am craving or skip a workout day.
Guilt gets you nowhere. Guilt is self-deprecation. You cannot be love and guilt at the same time – they are opposite vibrations. -Abraham
