Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Day 8 - "Do It By Doing It"

Sugar foods come to me every day.  Not many people know that I'm an elementary school "lunch lady" every day during the school year.  It's an important part of our financial profile as it provides health insurance for us as we have been self-employed for nearly our entire marriage of 30 years.

But there's FOOD there every day: broken cookies that no one cares about you eating, zuchinni bread that's more like cake, yummy little fruit rolls.  Just so you know, I'm surrounded by these things every day of the week and they are foods that I cannot get out of my kitchen.

I've grown way too-accustomed to indulging there. The 30-Day detox is for ME as much as anyone who has joined me!

I am remembering a time I really got excited about something!!!! And choosing to remember a do-it-by-doing-it example from my son Cooper, now a missionary in Brazil:

My five children are now 20 -33 years old.  In remembering back on raising them, it's odd how so much is very fuzzy (thank goodness for photos to prove it all happened) and some is as clear as yesterday. 

One of the sharpie memories is the euphoria I felt when it was time to potty train.  Not for the training itself, of course, but for the freedom when they were trained.

I just got this bubbly, excited WOW!  No more diapers!  The ickiness!  The expense! The freedom!!!!!!  I am feeling the same about being sugar free!!!!!!

Child 1 was a challenge.  A very smart and "with-it" little girl, this was one of the few areas in life where it just took some patience and time.  Child 2 was much easier, an extremely independent son who was happy to no longer need me on this one.  Child 3, another little boy.  I dreaded the training.  Obstinate, and upset much of the time. He was frequently perplexed and devastated by simple events and expectations in life.  How would I swing this one? 

I waited until all the readiness signs were there and we talked about it a lot.  Then on Morning 1 we put on his big-boy pants to give him a feel of it. He was accepting, but nothing dramatic.  We did have one success.

I had planned on it being a short-term morning session and back to diapers until another session in the afternoon.

At the end of the 2 hours we had a date at the playground with another family and I told him we were done and he could have his diapers until later in the day.

To my great surprise, he wouldn't put them back on and insisted he could "do it!"

His melt-downs were so painful for all, that I agreed and off we went to the playground -- along with back-up supplies for cleaning up an accident, which I fully expected.

To my great delight and joy (and his too) that comprised his potty training.  There were no accidents that day.

He never did go back to day-time diapers. 

THAT WAS IT. 

Wow.  Sometimes I think I make things TOO HARD. 

Come on!!! Just do it by doing it.  Stop thinking it and start living it.

I've been sugar free for about 10 days now.

I'm DOING IT by DOING IT. And it is getting so much easier.

I'm realizing that it's the social element that's got me, but I've figured it out before (for short periods of time) and I'll know what to do.

How about you?

No comments:

Post a Comment