Get the Help You Need and Deserve

No one is an island.  We are all part of a much bigger system, connected and interconnected.  How we behave, the choices we make have a profound effect directly on our own lives and also indirectly on the lives of those around us.  Whether we realize this or not, we need each other to keep going.

When it comes to food choices, we have 200 of them to make every single day.  Unfortunately, we make so many of those choices alone.  There might be others around us, but we are the ones in the chip aisle at the grocery store.  We are the ones who make a good breakfast early in the morning or just grab something in the drive through on the way to work.  We are the ones choosing leftover pizza for dinner at 9PM when we are too tired or stressed for anything else.

Wouldn't it be nice if we enlisted the help of others to keep us on track, focused and supported?  Wouldn't it be smart if we asked for the help we need in especially challenging situations so that we could power through them and feel good about it.  No one wants to be the person who says no! no! no! to snacks at parties while everyone else seems to be indulging.  No one wants to feel that different and alone.  We are part of a much bigger picture, and we can use that to our advantage.

Making lifestyle changes is a push against the tide.  It is a mental, physical and emotional undertaking.  When we want more for our lives, we need lots of help.  While we can't expect everyone to cheer us on every step of the way, what we can do is talk to our true friends and caring family members and let them know we would like their assistance.  This might come in the form of agreeing on a restaurant with healthier options. This might look like their offering fruit and veggies and light appetizers at a party not just pizza and wings. This might be a request that you make to someone in advance, to come up to you at Thanksgiving or at a party and say "good job--you are getting through this."

As kids, we had cheerleaders--our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers.  It was their job to encourage us, guide us, redirect us and give us the support we needed.  As adults, we too need a rah rah squad from time to time.  If you need more from the people you live with, work with, socialize with--then ask them kindly for their support.  Expect them to offer it.  Remind them how much you appreciate them for helping.   Start living the dream of a more fulfilling, vital life, one choice at a time.