Storms for Christmas?
Pretty amazing weather we have been seeing. Rain, warmth… so much warmth that we were greeted with a thunderstorm this evening. Strong winds, the whole deal, just like a spring storm! I have had a strong desire for cold weather. I don’t care for much of it, my 2 and 1/2 decades in Buffalo really took care of that.
But there is this thing inside of me that longs for a little cold weather, a brisk breeze, some snow of course. It just seems like Christmas would be complete with that cold air, vs. the thunderstorm of today. It kind of mirrors so many things in our life that we put a lot of effort into, focus and direction, just to have one thing go wrong, and mess up the outcome. But think about Christmas specifically; for those celebrating, you would never let something like the weather destroy your day, or week. The EVENT is too big for a small detail significantly impact it.
My question to you, is are you that resilient in other areas? Do you let yourself get pulled down into the dumps too easy? Do you sweat immaterial details? I have taught many people about diet being a lifestyle, yet in most cases we pursue diets like a short term fix. Even when the goal is lifestyle change, we usually find ourselves adopting short term habits… “I’ll start in three days (after I eat all the garbage I’ll never have again); I am eating nothing but lemonade and spinach”, etc.
When you ask most people about their diets, you will find that they have fallen short of their goals. We host an event every year at the end of January, either a Body By God Challenge, or a Total Food Makeover. The reason why we wait until the end of January is because most people have failed at their New Years resolutions by then, and they need some help. So why have they fallen short? Sweating the details. Like letting Christmas rain destroy your Christmas, they let some minor detail take them off course.
In most cases, people fail, then give up. So I want to give you my best advice for lifestyle change.
The 80% Rule. 80% of your choices should reflect the lifestyle that you want to have, diet, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, and 20% can be lost in the wind. Trying to hold much more strict than that will probably result in failure just about every single time.
So as you go forward into your spring storm Christmas, look at the cookies and pie, and fudge and cake, and consider the 80/20 rule. And if you find yourself on the wrong 80%, don’t give up! Have a great Christmas, be well!
Dr. Eric