How’s that working for ya?

With respect to Phil, I’m sure that we’ve heard that phrase enough times in the past decade to stop paying attention when it is spoken. Kinda like when a song by Timberlake comes on the radio: you just tune it out…
But when was the last time you took a look at the way you were doing something and then asked that question of yourself? You I made a decision to stop eating candy because it has no value nutritionally, and you I discovered (not so intuitively at first) that dark chocolate (the ONLY chocolate worth eating) causes things to speed up a bit (and I’m not talking about my pulse). So I went cold turkey. Three and a half years ago. In the beginning, there were times when I missed it. Eating it was a social thing. As RNs, we had candy around all the time. People would give it to us (CANDY, Adam, CANDY….) at the drop of a hat. And I stopped. On Halloween.
How’s it working for me? Wonderfully. My wife keeps forgetting that I don’t eat candy anymore and will offer me candy every now and then (and by candy I mean candy…although….). It is kinda funny, so we laugh when it happens. I don’t miss the candy a bit. The smell of it makes me a little whoozy, too. And it is amazing how sweet a banana tastes after you haven’t had other sweets for a long time. So it is working out well so far. I can’t foresee ever going back to eating it. So I had a plan, tried it, stuck to it, and it worked.
Was it easy? No. Did I struggle? Yes, but I didn’t falter. It took hard work and determination. Why was it hard? I LOVE DARK CHOCOLATE. But I gave it up for my health.
I heard some one say, “It is easy to say ‘no’ when there is a bigger ‘yes’.” I love that quotation. It can be applied to so many things, and really has the same impact. I told you the candy story so that I could tell you this: not everything is going to work the first time you try it. You will need to be flexible with your journey, but steadfast on your goals.
People along the way (no matter what your goal is) will try to derail you. Not always intentionally (here, try this and that. it worked for me!), and sometimes subtly, but it will happen. BE AWARE OF THIS, learn to adapt your methods to fit your destination, and you will be fine. You need to ask yourself, and answer honestly, “How is this working for me?”
Figure out the honest answer, try something else if you need to, but never take your eyes off of the final goal. It will be WORK, but you CAN do it.
Be well.
-gene-