Day 6 of Wildflower May brings us to another alliteration; weightloss, wonder, and willpower.
The Journey of Weightloss
It’s not something everyone thinks about, mainly those who struggle with their relationship with food, and thus with themselves. The weightloss journey is not an easy one.
My personal weightloss journey started in 2017 when I weighed 265 pounds and felt insecure and uncomfortable in my body. I stumbled upon a beach body coach who was just beginning to soar in the company and she introduced me to her team and something called the Happiness Project.
This project outlined ways to get fit, both mentally and physically. I enjoyed my time working with Beachbody, but the judgment of others around me led to feeling insecure about my own decision to take my health seriously, so I gave up.
It wasn’t until I joined an instagram pod from the Ladies Community with entrepreneurial women in Toronto that I started to learn about Arbonne.
After a couple of months, knowing about the Arbonne difference, I found myself with no shifts for work in the summer, and decided to take the plunge!
After 6 months in Arbonne, I’ve learned so much about myself, about life, and made incredible new friends I will always be grateful for. I’ve also learned how to become a business woman, and how to set that mentality within myself.
Wonder & Willpower
Abraham Hicks say, you’ll get to a place and wonder why you ever worried about anything, because everything is working out for you. You are the luckiest person alive, and everything you desire comes to you when you’re focusing on feeling good.
Where do wonder and willpower fit in the weightloss journey? Or any journey for that matter? You may be wondering what these three ideas have in common, besides the letter “W”.
Wonder gives a sense of freedom, curiosity, and a bridge to finding and embracing joy!
The connection between wonder and willpower is solidified when considering big decisions. Choosing to take my health seriously and give up Diet Coke, negative thinking, and replace it with healthier products, and running, as well as writing about my journey.
Activating willpower to change
As I’m writing I wonder if others around me, or who were around me at one time, have activated their willpower to change. I know this isn’t an easy task to do, as it requires a lot of courage, and desire to change from within. I wonder if others have changed because of how much I have changed within myself. How many steps I’ve taken to become my truest, authentic self.
I wonder if I can inspire others to find this willpower, and gently encourage them to go forward into who they want to become with ease and grace.
To make the challenge a touch more graceful and fill them with determination, willpower they didn’t know they had, and light the way through their tunnel with the glow of their higher self.
The philosopher’s dilemma, is putting all their thinking and theory into actions. I faced this dilemma after graduating from OISE and realizing that I had learned a significant amount of theory, and hadn’t practiced my true philosophy of teaching, or any philosophy for that matter.
I struggled with my mental health, by adopting other ideas of who I am, and listening too intently to the opinions of others. Once I began to let go of this struggle, and section off that part of myself. I made space for my true self to shine. I made space for the practice of philosophy as a daily writing habit, as a means of sharing my story, without judgment of myself.
I’ve always been a teacher in some capacity, either babysitting my younger cousins, teaching at a learning centre, or running after school programs for the sole purpose of having fun.
This year, I found myself teaching myself more than my students, I spent a lot of time teaching and referring back to philosophy as the overarching theme of all subjects, without truly knowing what that meant. I know I made some mistakes with my teaching, despite following curriculum, I found this deep sense of judgment in myself toward myself.
I know a lot of teachers struggle with self criticism and I want to say, here and now, your impact, on your students, is more valuable than you will ever know.
I can say this because my decision to become a teacher, is because of a teacher who saw my potential and impacted me. It is with this vision that I want to give willpower, and wonder to all those who are dealing with self criticism, in whatever form that comes for you.
Remember…
The journey is the best part, lessons are everywhere and we are all in school everyday.
With the relationships we have, we are learning boundaries, healthy communication, and how to become a good partner.
With the jobs we take on, we are learning how to impact others with empathy and compassion.
With the challenges we face, we are learning to overcome the deepest parts of our youngest self.
Everything is taking you to who your inner philosopher wants you to become; truth, compassion, love, wisdom, and joy.
Remember to have fun along the way, and enjoy the journey towards your dreams.
With love and light,
~~ stay true, stay weird ~~
~~ Kristi