Posts Tagged ‘miserable’
Simple pleasures
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen this picture of a recent lunch that I prepared. It’s pretty simple… A tunafish sandwich made with organic mayonnaise and a little pepper. I served it on reasonably-sized wholegrain bread with sliced organic tomato and avocado. I mention organic and whole grain because I do my best to stick to the tenants of clean eating.
A lot of people who’ve put themselves on strict diets at this time of year are often surprised at the use of mayonnaise or even bread for this lunch. But the fact is, you can take off excess weight while enjoying delicious foods in reasonable portions. Too often, those of us with diet mentalities are nibbling on rice cakes and baby carrots (neither of which is probably in their most natural states, freshness- or additive-wise) and complaining that we’re miserable while doing so.
But guess what? The less miserable we are when eating healthy and getting rid of excess weight, the more likely we are to stick to the plan and not only take the excess weight off, but keep it off. That’s the key, right? We’ve all started diets at this time of year. We’ve all even lost weight at this time of year. But at a certain point we have to ask ourselves, why has this become an annual occurrence?
Why not make this the last time you begin a weight loss plan and, instead, think of it as clean, healthy eating (AKA a food plan you’re never going to have to go off of). And you don’t have to want to go off of it when you allow yourself the simple pleasures of tasty, wholesome, nutritious food. Add exercise, sleeping well and enough water to the mix and you can even enjoy the occasional food-related treats (even the richer ones, just the way “people who don’t have to diet” do).
Balance. Moderation. Satisfaction. Sounds so crazy, it just might work.
Taxing issues
What does tax day mean to you? Ask most Americans and they’ll confess that they dread April 15th even more than a trip to the dentist (or perhaps even starting a new diet).
There’s something about having to fork over our hard earned funds (on top of sales taxes we already pay when buying something) mid April of every year. And you can count me among the folks who used to grouse about having to pay taxes. Yes, you read that right… Used to.
I recently realized that whenever I broke into a sweat, panic or foul mood as a result of sitting down to write a check out to the IRS, it was actually me making myself feel miserable and not anyone else. After all, I’m the one who earned the income. I’m the one who lives in the country that I live in. And I’m the one running the thoughts of “Oh, man, why do I have to pay taxes?” through my head. Not the IRS. Not my CPA. Not my bank. Me.
I then began to realize that because I was responsible for the negative banter in my head, I could actually be happy while writing out my tax payment check. Now, before you call the loony bin to come pick me up, let me explain.
Just as one day I decided to just stop eating so much and went from over 450 pounds to around 175 pounds in less than a year’s time period, I decided I could just stop feeling sorry for myself and instead just accept that paying taxes is a part of life. And since it’s a part of life, why make myself miserable about it? After all, paying taxes is a sign that I’m earning income. It’s also a requirement of living in my state and in this country (two places that I love). So what’s to complain about?
By thinking negative thoughts, I was only making myself miserable. And this includes joining others when complaining about having to pay taxes. Now, this doesn’t mean that if I heard you complaining about having to pay the IRS I would break into song and cartoon birds would start circling around me (although, quite frankly, I wish they would). It just means that I’m not going to ruin my own day by grousing about things and circumstances I can’t change.
Based on my longterm history, complaining and grousing leads to more and more negativity, which (for me) leads to destructive behavior such as eating the wrong foods, gaining weight and not being able to fit into my skinny jeans. And let me tell you, the cartoon birds would flee for their lives if I wasn’t able to comfortably zip up my skinny jeans.
So as Bobby McFerrin sings, “Don’t worry, be happy.” After all, we might as well accept our present circumstances (regarding paying taxes, our weight, our life situations or whatever) and make the very best of them. This better attitude will sure lead to better things. Even if not to cartoon birds. (But hey… You never know!)
So join me in paying your taxes with gratitude, won’t you? The life you change just might be your own.
Photo Source: southernstudies.org
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