Don't Give Up! Keeping Short Accounts

Well, I have been a lazy blogger on here lately, huh? I have a lot of excuses. If you read the comments section on the last post, you already heard some of them:

-Busy
-Turned into a Facebook addict (If you don't know what this is, don't try to find out. You'll regret it because you'll get addicted and hours will disappear) : )
-Got distracted by the elections
-Kids have been out of school all week
-Wanted to let you talk to each other in the comments more

The real reason is I have been having a less than stellar week following my eating plan and doing my reading. I have battled with wanting to quit and feeling like I'm failing again. Today's devotion, "Keeping Short Accounts" was a perfect one for me today. I'm amazed at the timing! I don't know how the writers timed this devotion to come on the day I felt like I was blowing it, but they did. It was a God thing.

How often have I traveled down the road of, "Well, I've already blown it, so I might as well just ___________." And the line of "it occurs to you that this is already Thursday, so you might as well wait until Monday and really blow out the whole weekend." I was mentally preparing to forget this all until Monday when I read that line.

I promised myself that this journey would be about lasting change and breaking free from the insanity of doing the same old thing over and over again. I don't want the same results, so I have to change my approach. And this is my M.O. I'm excited to have an ah-ha, breakthrough here. My all or nothing behavior has to stop or I will constantly be dieting and regaining and dieting and regaining. It feels good to have identified one of the ways I self-sabotage myself in this effort. When I mess up, stop, pray, get back on track. Don't give up. Keep short accounts. Ditch perfectionism.

I think people who are not perfectionists would believe that a perfectionist has it all together all the time. They would think it was someone who is perfect. But a true perfectionist knows that perfectionists are those who give up when they can't be perfect. That's me.

If you haven't read today's devotion (Keeping Short Accounts), please read it before the weekend starts. I think we've all been struggling with weekends and I think this will help us. Pray, repent, start over.

I also need to be praying more. It is interesting how the theme this week is prayer, and I have struggled to pray at all. There has been a block in me for some reason, and I've found it so difficult to pray. I'd rather be doing anything else but praying even though I know that is my lifeline. Why do I resist something I need so much? Something I love so much?

Day Two hit it right on the head. So much of our lives as Christians involve spiritual battle. Whether we want to admit it or face it, it is reality. And prayer is critical. It really is easy for me to think about my weight loss journey as a battle. I just need to do a better job of using the weapon of prayer in this battle. It is kind of like exercise- I resist it, but once I do it I love it and wonder why I didn't want to do it.

Personally, I took the election results hard and have been feeling unsettled and anxious. Insecurity about what the future holds has my stomach in knots. It might sound weird to others reading this, but it really has affected me, and I've turned to my typical anti-anxiety medication: FOOD.

Instead of quiting or waiting for Monday to "restart," I'm going to finish up this journal entry and go pray. Then I'm going to just keep on living this new lifestyle instead of thinking, "Man I blew my diet, might as well quit."

Some Notes About the Book Club:

1. Don't worry if you get behind. Put a pencil mark on the devotion you miss and just keep going. You can go back later and catch the ones you miss. There is so much in this book, I know I'm going to need to reread it several times to get out of it all there is for me to learn. Don't be a perfectionist. : )

2. There are seven readings in each section. So Monday= Day One, Tuesday = Day Two, etc. with Sunday being the final day.

3. I try to blog often, but even if I don't put up a post, check the comments section for new posts from other people reading the book. When you leave a comment you can check the box that will have all additional comments on that post emailed to you if it is easier for you to keep up with the conversation that way instead of having to come back and check.

Here are some prayer requests:

- Pray for Sally while she is on vacation. She was able to go on an unexpected vacation with her husband and was worried about being able to stay on track. Pray she'll have a great time and will be free from worrying about overeating and will come home refreshed and ready to continue with all of this, not discouraged in any way.

- Pray for Sally A. (My mom) who is on a business trip with my dad and will be living in a hotel for two weeks. She wants to stay active and to eat well without having to live on salad alone.

-Pray that Renee's family will all be healthy again and that she will be able to stay encouraged, too.

Did I miss anything? How are things going? Anyone else needing to keep short accounts? : )