Belief

Today was a very exciting day...I bought another Groupon to go skydiving!! A classmate and I decided to buy...and a couple other friends did it too. We're trying to convince a third classmate to make jump with us. We keep telling her what a life changing experience it is. I don't think she believes me. What I do know is that my perspective on my personal bravery is just a little different. A small but oh so noticeable shift. I've jumped out of an airplane, I believe that I can do anything. And that belief is half the work!

It's funny, making changes in our lives is just a little easier if we believe. If you're like me, you need some proof. I need proof that I can do something. I need to do it once to know that I can, and then I can work on perfection. Ok, maybe not perfection per se, but improvement. That's why great big giant goals aren't always the best way to stay focused. Yeah, BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) are great when we need vision, when we need to dream long term. We do need a destination point for whatever it is that we're doing, afterall. But those great big goals aren't going to stop me from eating cheesecake for lunch (no, I did not have cheesecake today).

What I need on a daily basis is to feel like I'm making progress toward my BHAG. My BHAG may be to lose 20 pounds, or 50 pounds, or 100 pounds! BUT, at the start of the race, on day 1 or 2 of healthy eating and exercise, that great big goal in the sky is overwhelming. Maybe so much so that I don't believe that I can make it, so I give up. When I give up, I don't just have one slice of cheesecake, I eat the whole damned cake! So how do I keep myself from giving up??

Belief. I've got to believe that I can accomplish my weightloss or fitness or eating goal. Without belief, without an emotional buy-in, I've got nothin'. So, how I do I attain belief? Well, for me, I've got to start with action. Right action leads to right thinking (belief in this case). If I take some right action, I'll start to see results...from the results, I'll start to believe. If I believe, I can jump any hurdle that the ice cream parlor chooses to put in my path.

Ham and cheese toasted sammy. I was short on time...it was grab and go...I have no actual excuse.

A whole giant bunch of leftover veggies that I'm choosing to call a salad and what was labeled as eggplant parmesean with a few pieces of Italian sausage. Funny, how my eggplant was an awful lot like chicken.

I caved and got a slice of chocolate babka.

Breakfast at Panera! Never judge a sandwich by it's bread...