If I had to guess, I’d go with maybe 98%. That’s how much of my body I don’t control. It has a mind of its own and does what it wants – when it wants. It grows my hair and nails at a pace that’s convenient for it. It tells me when to go to the bathroom, when to go to sleep, when to eat, and when I’m happy or angry. It tells me when I’m sick and when I’m horny. I don’t have a say in any of this stuff and the list goes on.
I have a hard time controlling my appetite and the amount of lip I give. I find it challenging to control my speed behind the wheel, my shopping online, and I used to have a huge issue with controlling the amount of alcohol I drank. Couldn’t even remotely pull that one off.
Today, I’m focusing on controlling myself from tossing a bag of M&Ms into my cart at the grocery store. And when the craving for them comes on – as it is right now – I’m controlling myself from running to the mini-market by keeping my fingers and mind busy on something important. Like blogging. And today is the 356th day in a row that I’ve controlled my drinking. I haven’t had a drink today. Controlling my intake of alcohol has reduced the number of times I go through withdrawal each morning to ZERO. Things are looking good these days.
It turns out that the stuff I can control – some of it is stuff I wasn’t even aware of. For example – I can control how to live my life in a way that addresses – on a daily basis – the things I need and value; like quiet, space around me, nature, and time to be creative. Doing this makes me happy. Go figure. Happy is a big deal. Most everyone has this freedom, but plenty of people would argue with me. They would argue for their limitations and then get angry with the driver in front of them on the highway – the guy going the speed limit.
?
Go figure.
But I get it because I used to do it.
It’s insane.
And the stuff that I can’t control in my body – thank God I don’t have to. My body is just so smart. It’s never late for work and it never asks for a day of and it never complains (unless I treat it badly). I’m happy to let it run the show (usually) so that I can focus on living in alignment with my heart. Listening to it and learning to speak its language is how I’ve become aware of my needs and values. That’s what is bringing me bushels of happy these days and I’m discovering – and this is super cool – that happy is related to CONFIDENCE!
WHO KNEW?
It’s like opening the refrigerator door every morning and finding a fresh bowl of strawberries each time!
Happy!
Jennifer 