Category: choices

I Failed…I didn’t Watch My Words (Video and Text)

The link below is to a video following up on last week’s “How do we talk to ourselves when we look in the mirror?” Apparently I wasn’t paying attention to my own words.

Video Link: I Didn’t Watch My Words

Here’s the text from the video:

Hi Everyone. Thank you for the great response to last week’s video on
“Watching your Words,” on how we talk to ourselves when we look in the mirror.

Before we move on, apparently, I need to go back and watch that video again.

This past weekend our granddaughters were over, and we were all playing out in the backyard. Before I go on let me give a shout out to my oldest granddaughter, who apparently likes to watch Grammy on these videos. So, hi Daphne! Grammy loves you.

Anyway, Daphne and her little sister were over and we’re all playing in the backyard and then afterwards my daughter posted some pictures on Facebook. And I saw one picture of me, and immediately started criticizing how fat I looked and how big I looked.

My husband stopped me and he said, “Is that all you see?”

My beautiful granddaughters

I sheepishly said, “Well, no. I see our beautiful granddaughters.”

And he said, “I see a Grammy out there kicking the ball with her granddaughters.”

And he has a point. I was out there playing with them and running around and kicking the ball. I wasn’t sitting on the sidelines.

But it shocked me how quickly and easily I fell back into the self-criticism mode of talking badly about myself after looking at one picture. Even when you’re watching out for how you watch your words, how you talk to yourself, you can slip back into the negative cycle.

We all have value. We all have a purpose, and the purpose of that day was me being a good Grammy. They didn’t care that I looked fat, they were glad I was out there participating.

So, I’m back to the drawing board, I need to watch my words and watch how I talk to myself.

Now, did I fail because I had this lapse? No, but it is something you need to pay attention to… I need to pay attention to. It can happen so easily.

So, we’re back on the cycle of positivity. We’re back on the cycle of I have value. And I have a purpose, and I have a meaning. And if I’m so unhappy with how I look, then I could go out and do something about it. So, stop the negativity.

Today’s the day to choose joy, and to believe in yourself and to believe in your purpose.

Beauty is Much More Than Skin Deep

For some time, I’ve wanted to write about how negative we are to ourselves, how we pick on ourselves and how we don’t love who we are as we are. Recently, not one, but two other bloggers have broached this topic, and they’ve written about it so much better than I could’ve done.

PLEASE do yourselves a favor and visit these blogs:

From Mess to Masterpiece

 

 

The Ongoing Battle With Beauty

 

 

Hopefully, down the road, we’ll talk about the cycle of negativity, but until then, I’m headed back to bed to fight this sinus cold. Take care everyone.

Easy to Fall, Harder to Get Up

So far, the posts on this blog this year have been about resolutions, starting again, frustration, — all the things associated with a new year. Last week, I talked about being a pinball wizard, or more accurately, being the ball that’s bounced around in a pinball machine.

Well, as life would have it, I just got bounced!

I’ve been dealing with an ankle injury since last summer – a combination of tendinitis and a severe ankle sprain. I ended up in a boot, on a knee scooter, then graduated to an ankle brace and strengthening exercises.

My Mom and I laugh at our matching hot pink walking accessories!

Usually, I’m a beast about physical therapy (a compound femur fracture from a motorcycle accident, and a double mastectomy teach you how wonderful the results of physical therapy are!). But this time, I wasn’t as consistent. When I did my strengthening exercises, it was good and I was getting stronger, but consistency is key.

You can probably see where this is going.

The other day I was walking into church at a pretty good clip, and something popped in my ankle. “Ow!” I don’t know what it was, but it sure didn’t feel good. Leaving church, I was a little hobbled walking across the parking lot. Although I tried to ignore the reality, the truth was, I had re-injured my ankle.

I had a setback because I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. Now, there’s no way to know that if I had done all my strengthening exercises, I wouldn’t have re-injured my foot. However, the chances are good that at least the pain and tenderness might have been less.

It’s not easy to do what we’re supposed to do, even if it’s good for us. It’s easier to be lazy, or eat junk food, or blow off my daily devotion. But eventually, things will come back to bite you, and you’ll have to begin again, further away from your goal than you would’ve been had you been disciplined all along.

So, what’s the big lesson?  I say it’s don’t get discouraged when you have a setback. All through scripture, God says not to be afraid or discouraged. We can be inspired by what David tells his son, Solomon, in 1 Chronicles 28:20 (NIV): “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God is with you.” David’s instructions to his son are the instructions we might hear from any parent advising their child, and they’re good words for navigating life.

I have faith that things work for good. In fact, this ankle issue might be just the push I need to get back to regular exercise. In my experience, I feel better when I exercise, and when I have my daily devotions, and when I’m doing what I need to do. The discouragement begins when I stop.

Today, I start again to fight off the pinball effect of being bounced around. We’re reminded in Galatians 6:9 (NIV): “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

How about you? Has there been a time when you fell and had to get up again? Was it motivating or did it make you want to quit?

Let me hear from you.

Are you a Pinball Wizard?

@RebeccaYauger

I don’t know if this is true for you, but it seems in the past week or so, I feel like a ball in a pinball machine, just being bounced around from side to side, and up and down.

Like most of us, I started the new year with goals, dreams, and aspirations of what I want to accomplish. It’s going okay — not great, as evidenced from my blog last week about my frustration.

This week, I started again with a fresh attitude. And almost immediately there were numerous things that cried out for my attention and had me floundering. Like I mentioned last time, I felt like I had too many tabs open on my computer, or more accurately, too many tabs open in my brain! I was quickly pulled in so many different directions that I wasn’t doing any of things that I needed to do.

I was like a pinball in the machine, rebounding off the obstacles around me. I’d rather be a pinball wizard. In the Pete Townshend song, the pinball wizard is the one who mastered the game. All I want to do is master my to-do list.

This leads me to a question. Why do we always feel like we have to do everything at once? Most of us know that when we get scattered, nothing gets done well, or done correctly, therefore we’re not accomplishing anything and we’re making more mistakes.

How do we rectify this?

It should be simple:

*Do one thing at a time
*Slow down to do that one thing very well
*Move on to the next thing – and do that one very well.

But time can work against me. Until I tackle everything I want to right now, I may have to spend extra hours in the evening or get up earlier in the morning to get a jump start on things. It will be  worth it to find that quiet time where I can concentrate before the rest of the day intrudes.

This is not a new concept, but it is one that bears remembering. It’s okay to re-group and begin again. (I wrote about something similar for my writer’s group, if you’re interested).

So, in order to start again, here are some suggestions:

  1. PRAY OVER YOUR DAY FIRST! Remember the words of James 1:5 (NIV) “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Am I going to be instantly smarter by asking for wisdom? No. But in making time for prayer every day, I hope to stay within God’s will and on the path He has for me.
  2. Make a List. If you don’t have a to-do list, then make one. Whether it’s on your phone, computer, or handwritten, it helps to have a list to stay organized. Find a system that works for you.
  3. Do one thing at a time. Maybe attempt the biggest job first, so the heaviest weight is off of your shoulders.
  4. Get up earlier (or stay up later) and do some things in peace and quiet before the rest of the house wakes up, or while the rest of the house is asleep.

These are all fairly simple to do for those times when we’re being bounced around. Let’s try to be the pinball wizard, instead of the pin ball itself.

Hang in there, friends, and we’ll get through this.