Do you feel trapped in a body that doesn’t feel like you?
Do you jump from one diet protocol to the next trying to find the answer that will produce the body you’ve always wanted, but never arrive at your destination? Have you ever thought that maybe you’re just destined to be uncomfortable in your own skin for the rest of your life or that there must be something wrong with you and that’s why you can’t get the results you want?
If your answer is yes to any of these questions, I’d like to suggest that maybe there’s another way. A way that brings an end to the seemingly endless war between the you who is seen on the outside and the you that you’re longing to experience. A way that actually satisfies and fulfills the very part of you that is seeking for contentment, yet feels so disconnected and discontented. A way that brings congruency and peace to your life in a fashion you never thought possible.
What I’m about to share with you changed my life!
It not only has put my body on a path of healing, it has transformed the way I live my life in all areas. In this article, I am focusing primarily on our relationship to our bodies and how we can live in harmony with them instead of working against them. Unknowingly and unintentionally, most of us work against our bodies which can leave us very unsatisfied, worn-out and without the results that we so desperately want to achieve.
We are seeking for the answer and it usually doesn’t come from a magazine article, our best friend, or the next best diet. Nor does it come from depriving ourselves, diet-pills or working-out until our limbs fall off.
The answer, amazingly, comes from within us!
We live in a world where “diet” is synonymous with healthy. Many people aspire to look or feel better than how they look or feel right now, and will go to great lengths to create this fantasy picture of perfection in their head. We focus so whole-heartedly on our appearance and many times we make radical dietary and physical modifications to meet this impossible criteria we have set for ourselves. We believe that by the achievement of this illusory standard, we will be happy. Our magazines, movies and social media are telling us this story every day, and we are listening.
But what if the reality is that following a path of dieting, starving, bingeing, lavish amounts of working-out and shame, disguised as motivation, will never lead us to the body that we feel good about? Oftentimes, this inevitable plot to our story line will lead us down a long and painful rabbit-hole, and just sometimes, lend us a short-lived, small triumph that disappointingly exits just as fast as it entered. Unfortunately, with that plot, our story will result in an unhappy ending.
But the truth is, no matter the weight loss we finally achieve, no matter how much muscle mass we build and no matter what size jeans we’re able to wear, our internal voice, whether negatively focused or positively focused, will always be the dictator of how we feel, not the outward outcome or circumstance.
Our state of happiness has nothing to do with the shell we live in or the circumstances of our life. Happiness lives within us, in our core. Happiness is birthed out of the foundational thoughts that we think about ourselves. If our foundation is cracked, it allows dirt and dust to settle in. Furthermore, the residue of ‘what we are not’ lingers, affects how we feel about ourselves and manifests negatively throughout our lives.
So, what then, you ask?
I understand, it may sound a little scary, possibly even depressing; or it may bring up feelings that feel out-of-control or hopeless. This is good! Don’t be afraid of those feelings. Running from them will not lead you to where you want to go. You must be honest with where you are in order to move with ease to where you want to be. If we allow ourselves to sit with the grime, observe it, accept it, and release it from judgement, it will transform.
What if you already have everything you need to be exceedingly and just plain ridiculously happy? What if all the bashing of yourself is just some strange habit that took hold because of what someone else said about you years ago. What do YOU say about you? What does your core say? Are you listening? Or have you listened to the negative voices so long that you’ve started to believe that they ARE your voice? I guarantee that if you sit with yourself and tune in, a much more friendly, loving voice from within will say, “Hello friend, I love you.”
Which leads me to a revelation that revolutionized my life!
Our thoughts are creative. What you think about “you” is actually creating you! If you observe the thoughts you think about pertaining to how you feel about you, I guarantee you will find that those thoughts are producing exactly what you’re thinking about. You may be thinking thoughts like, “I never get what I want.” Or, “I can’t ever seem to get the changes in my body that I’m wanting.” Or, perhaps, “There must be something wrong with me.” It may not be what you are wanting, but if you’re thinking it, you’re creating it.
Just for a moment, think about what great things could unfold if you dwelt upon the antithesis of even just one habitual negative thought. What if you thought thoughts like, “My life is full of opportunity and possibilities.” Or, “I have everything I need and my body knows just what to do to be at it’s best.” The positive change in your body and your life would be amazing, simply by changing what you’re thinking! This has definitely been the case in my own life.
Furthermore, when you know your core is rooting for you and is not against you, shifting your thoughts from a negative outlook to a positive one can come much easier.
When you believe your original state of being is love, adjusting your thoughts to line up with love for yourself comes naturally. If you believe your innate self is wrong or bad, it’s easy to dwell on thoughts that back up that mindset.
It’s been given many names: your core, soul, spirit, inner-being, intuition, higher-self, whatever is the term you like to use, that place is YOU and everything you’ve ever wanted abides in there! That place is the only space where true and lasting happiness is known. That place is the only space where YOU will find YOU. And the good news is…
YOU are beautiful!
All it takes is recognizing that this place actually exists in order to activate it during moments of feeling lack, incomplete, not good enough or undesirable. You have all the power in your core to cut those no-good, inefficient, degrading, useless thoughts away from your life. Maybe not all at once, but one by one, the negative thoughts harassing you will have to say, “Sayonara” and for one reason: because you don’t believe in them anymore. Even if it is small, let the belief in this possibility get a chance to take hold and see what happens.
Instead of feeling like you need to somehow obtain more happiness, more approval, more joy, or more peace, realize you’ve had it all along.
It’s the Wizard of Oz, right?!
We can tap into our inner Dorothy at any moment. We’ve been wearing our ruby slippers this entire time! The very essence of the power to return to the comfort of home is ours now.
Return to your internal and eternally loving core that is your home. That inner haven is where you’ll discover what you’ve been looking for, and it is there where you’ll find rest.
Take baby steps, beautiful one, and feel the completeness of your being and the power of the love that you are in your core.
