What's your anchor? What do you cling to when you want to quit?

We've all had days when we want to quit, when the thought of continuing is overwhelming.  How do you handle those feelings?  DO you handle those feelings or do you just ignore them?

Guess you've all figured out by now that this journey is not for wimps!  It takes courage, dedication, effort, determination, application and so much more....and all on a daily basis!  No wonder we feel overwhelmed sometimes and want to quit.  The secret to staying grounded though these frequent life-storms is finding your anchor: the object or feeling that keeps you safely moored in your harbor until the storm passes.

This week we're using a practical activity at WW to help us break down the feelings and guide us to our own personal anchors.  Here's my activity sheet.

1.  What's your trouble spot?  Just had a weekend full of "trouble spots" namely going to my Other Mothers house for 3 days to celebrate her 80th birthday.  It was sugar, sugar, sugar, and more sugar, everywhere you looked....and I caved big time.  By day 2 I had such a sugar hangover that I had to keep eating sugar just to keep going!

2.  How do you want to feel in that situation?  I would like to be able to say "No thank you" and feel in control.  I am an all or nothing person, if I can say "no" at the beginning I stand a much better chance of resisting for the whole weekend.

3. Conjure up a time when you had those feelings and you nailed it.   When I first started WW, I had some great success with saying "no".  And the fact of the matter is, once you say "no" and the decision to abstain is made, a huge weight is lifted from you.

4. Now pick your anchor.  I have a two-part anchor.  Whenever I've had a disastrous Way-Off-Plan time and have those feelings of being a failure and want to give up I've learned to: 1. Pause and take a moment to think and breathe and 2. Practice gratitude.

5.  Make the positive connection.  For me the "Pause is crucial.  That moment of quiet reflection gives me the precious few seconds needed to know I have a choice.  And I always choose to get back on Plan because I remember the years, and years, of heartache living off Plan.  And that choice takes me to one of the very best feelings in the world: Gratitude. I start looking and thinking about the WW plan with such gratitude: grateful to get back to working it, grateful to go to the meetings and interact with my fellow WW's...and grateful for how I feel when I'm back on Plan.  And that feeling of gratitude is my anchor.

6. Finally, practice using it as defense!  I've practiced gratitude so much over the past couple of years that it anchors me very quickly now...well, most of the time!  I still fall off Plan, and I imagine I always will at times, but it's less and less now, and most importantly, the time off Plan is much shorter.  And for that, believe me, I'm always grateful:)