Honoring Yourself

 

What is the difference between those who make a decision to change, set a new goal in life, decide to lose weight, change a habit, implement a new virtue into their lives, who succeed and those who do not? 

I believe one of the biggest difference is, those who succeed have committed to themselves, they honor themselves and the commitments they have made to themselves. They have an unbreakable bond with themselves. They also have the courage to continue to struggle, pursue, try, even when it doesn't workout in their favor immediately, takes a long time, even years decades to accomplish what they set out to do. They have a relentlessness deep inside themselves. It is different than motivation. 
 
You can have all the motivation in the world. You can be as motivated as you want. Motivation is fleeting, it has an expiration period. You have this great idea, go to a conference and be all hyped up, be on fire,  you are going to do this no matter what. The speakers were so motivated, high energy, cheer leader you up! You can do this! Go after everything you want! You come away on a motivation high! Then you find yourself at home a several days weeks later and where is that motivation? That fire that was burning so bright it could be seen from outer space? Motivation is a piece to accomplishing our dreams, goals, life changes. We need this motivation to begin the journey, see the possibilities. Once the motivation is gone, we need the commitment of honoring ourselves to see our dreams become the life we live. 

Those who honor themselves, say, I am going to do this and they do it. There isn't hoopla, and raw raw, cheerleading that is needed for them once the commitment is made. It is a deep, quite commitment they make to themselves and every day they work at it in small and big ways. I am not saying it is going to be perfect, not extremely difficult, and potentially take years, decades, because if it is anything worth while it is going to take a long time. 

In honoring yourself, you are willing to continue on the path and journey long after everyone else has stopped. Others think you are crazy for continuing to go down the path, encourage you to just give up, you have already done enough, don't be crazy and lose yourself in pursuit of this. They don't have the courage to pursue their dreams so they don't want you to pursue yours. My dreams don't come true so why should yours? The idea of crabs in a pot, bringing others down with them. 

Even when it is tough and a struggle, nothing seems to be going the way you want it to go, others bringing you down, honoring yourself is saying, I am going to continue trying. Maybe I need to change the approach, the how, stop doing what isn't producing results and try something different, but the dream is there and I will continue on the path for as long as it takes. 

This is beyond motivation. This is beyond a vision board. This is beyond dreaming and seeing yourself live this dream daily. This is committing to yourself, honoring yourself and your dream to relentlessly pursue the life you want to live. It is dreams in action. 

I have lived this commitment of honoring myself many times. 

When I realized I was physically addicted to the narcotics OxyContin, time released, and Oxycodone, you take this one more frequently, I was on both, it scared the hell out of me. To realize how deep this addiction was, the hold these drugs had on me, what this addiction could lead to, a life of drugs, I decided to stop them, cold turkey. That withdrawal was one of the most horrific things I have ever been through in life. The depths of this hell can only be understood by those who have gone through this. It was my commitment to myself that I was getting off them that help me through those many, long, horrific weeks. It was a battle from hell moment by moment until the end. 

My pursuit of my health coaching practice. Starting a business is not easy. It takes guts and courage. I have fallen more times than I remember. My dream of helping others find health, freedom from food struggles, body image issues, and the commitment to myself keeps me going. Is it easy. Nope. I want to give up more days than not. The desire and hope to help others pushes me forward. 

The same goes for coaching CrossFit. Learning more, gaining more understanding, continuing my education, desiring to help more induvial's find their health, it takes a commitment to myself, honoring my gifts and talents and pursuing, even at 0430. 

The practice of being committed to my dreams and life I hope to live has been hard fought. It is a muscle that has to be built and maintained.  

Do you honor yourself? 

In courage and kindness

Jenn