As a teacher, I hate that word, “can’t.” And I never permit the students in my care to use that word. Tough things are just that, tough, and somehow we sort through the can’t part so that we find out what is really the problem and we solve that, suddenly turning can’t into CAN.
Can’t isn’t a word I much like in my personal life either. When I find I can’t do something, I try really hard to over come that. And God help me when anyone uses the word can’t with my name attached to it, because then it becomes my mission to prove to them that I CAN. That is the whole summary about why last summer so was hard on me, because I knew I couldn’t change what was….. And then I found out that I could change it when I met Dr. Jack. And it is the summary of how I got here because a lot of naysayers told me I could NEVER stick to it. Well, yeah you totally underestimated me…..
So the other day, another in a long line of people asked me what I am doing that has changed my weight and my symptoms, and the second I told them things that I was doing, there was that word. “I know I need to make a change, I just can’t do it. I can’t give up things I enjoy because that is all I have to look forward to. I have work and a lot of responsibilities, and a delicious meal is the only thing in my day that makes me happy.”
And I thought a lot about that. THAT statement is no different than the students in my room. If you pick that apart, it is that you have attached your total happiness to some food. WHAT??? You have to have other things in life you enjoy!! There is so much else to enjoy, why would you think that food is all that you have?? So if you could be happy doing something else, then you could turn your can’t into can?? If there was something else to be happy about, then the can’t obstacle is out of the way!!! I challenged this friend to find one other thing to be happy about and take away the obstacle.
What’s holding up your can’ts???
In the beginning of this, I thought there was a lot I could not do. But this is how I got through it. I decided that if I just lost thirty pounds, I would let myself have a food treat. But a funny thing happened….. After the thirty pounds, I was so excited by what happened, I actually didn’t want it anymore. I told myself at Christmas, I would reward myself with some berries for dessert but when it came around, I realized that I had to stop using food as a reward or a punishment and so I gave up the idea. I started getting it, that I found out something about myself that I did not know before, that I actually craved the challenge more than the food and that when it was done, I love that great feeling so much, that sense of YES I did it!!!!!!!! And so I decided to start trying to turn all the I can’ts into I CAN’S!!!!!!
Is it easy going to a party where people are eating everything you used to love and there you are bringing your own, or just making do. Hello??? NOOOOOO…. But I always try to remind myself, why did I go there? Was it because I knew what they were serving or to be with people? So if the problem is that it is the food…. Then you have to solve that, so you bring yummy stuff, and get full and you are laughing and having fun. Suddenly, you make it through the challenge and what you thought you couldn’t do, you can!
I used to think I couldn’t live without coffee to make it through a day. But I did it and sure, there are days when I would love to sit on my porch in the morning, like I used to every summer and have a cup of coffee. So instead I traded it out. I still sit there with some ice water and I write the journal I keep for Dr. Jack about my food and what I did yesterday. It feels exactly the same and I am not a bundle of jittery nerves after. Can’t to CAN…
I used to think that I could never walk a long distance, let alone anything else physical. But I started with a little and then it was more, and now I am doing all kinds of physical things which is a wholeeeeee other blog. Can’t to CAN
I thought giving up sugar would kill me because I didn’t realize how much of it I was actually eating. Not sugary treats but even sugar in fruit and other products. But I started looking at the list of what I could eat and coming up with creative ways to have it all. Can’t to CAN
I thought I could never in a million years go to a Pilates teacher, or take a class, and believe me I used that word plenty of times during the week Dr. Jack and I discussed that. I said, “can’t,” so many times I am embarrassed still, but Dr. Jack knows exactly how to motivate me. Suddenly, he is agreeing with me, “Okay, you can’t, so let’s just forget about it. Maybe you will be ready in a year or two.” Even as I write it, I can hear him saying it, and the hairs on my neck stand up… I can feel things inside getting tight and that I am screaming, “I CAN, I will show you I CAN.” LOL….. (Shhhhhh…. No one tell him how that lights a fire under me to get me moving, he has NO idea of the effect that has. LOL… Seriously, I am bunching my hands into little fists and my eyes narrow…. It’s not pretty and soon, I am just FLYING to show him I CAN SO DO THAT!!!!!…..although I am betting he already knows, lol)
So today I am challenging EVERYONE!!! Let’s all commit to one thing. It doesn’t have to be food, it doesn’t have to be exercise, it can be anything. It could be that you can’t make it through the day without yelling at the kids. Or you have to have a five hour energy drink or something like that. Let’s all change one CAN’T into CAN!!!
Okay? Write one thing down. Tell yourself, that you are going to turn that can’t around. Even if it is a day or a week or a month. And at the end you will see, that not only CAN you, but now that you CAN, one more day is easy!!! Two days turn into four, then it is a week!! Then a month!!! And then who knows what can stop you, because you just found out that you have a heck of a lot more power than you ever believed. All just by turning one thing around…. And if you can turn one thing around? Guess what?? YOU can turn EVERY SINGLE thing around!!!!
I am working on my present can’t, along with a bunch of can’ts that I still had. I will write about it soon because it is still in process. I CAN change ANYTHING!! And so CAN you!!! Come on!! BE BRAVE!!!!! Hope you try it! Let me know how it goes!
Hugs
Chris