We all have it and we all hate it because it hurts! But think about it, being in emotional pain is perhaps why at times we're open to personal growth and change, and yes, I know it's often because we're desperate but that's okay, desperation is often the last shove that gets us to the threshold of change.
When we're unhappy and in emotional pain self preservation springs into action. We start seeking out ways to relieve the pain and often that's when, and why, we walk through the door of our WW workshops. We join up, start tracking, walking and losing weight...Yay!!!... and for a while we're on a roll so we stop seeking. We believe our emotional pain is caused by our weight so it stands to reason once the weight starts to come off we believe our pain will end. But it doesn't always, does it? And once the honeymoon weight loss period is over for some of us the weight starts to come back on and we start to panic, and more weight comes back on.
And I know what you're thinking, "What about So&So, they lost weight and they've kept it off?" Yes, it's true some people lose the weight and keep it off and believe me I've talked to those people at length and here's one key factor they have in common: THEY walked through the door loving themselves but wanted to lose some weight NOT wanted to lose some weight SO they could love themselves.
They say a toothache or a migraine is some of the worst physical pain one can have because it's in your head. Emotional pain is some of the worst pain a person can have for the same reason. I've been running from emotional pain my whole life and it's just now that I've learned that in order to ease my pain I must first embrace it. And that's a scary thing to do because embracing means bringing closer with affection and that's the last thing we want to do! But as it has turned out embracing my emotional pain is leading me on the most profound and loving path of my life. My pain caused an emotional fight or flight response which painfully lead me to understand you cannot fight your way out of emotional pain, you have to grow your way out. And the way we grow emotionally is to plant new thoughts and ideas.
So I started seeking. Since self-help books put me to sleep, I listen to self-help audio books and inspirational Podcasts daily and I watch Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, TED Talks or YouTube videos to start my day. I am replacing my constant seeking of ways to make myself worthy with constantly seeking the joy that is uniquely me. And that is not a statement of conceit, haha...if you know me at all you know I deleted that line several times before leaving it in! And yes I still hear my father's voice "about getting a swelled head" but now I understand he only passed on what he was given. I left it in because it's part of my personal growth to acknowledge that there is joy in being uniquely me.
And I believe with my whole heart and soul that there is joy in being uniquely you too! Now is the time for you to start believing it. It may seem impossible to weed out the negativity you feel about yourself, but what IS possible is to plant new joyful and loving thoughts. And once you do and start to feel good and hopeful the emotional pain will start to be released. You will be in growth mode and no longer content to feel unworthy so you'll want to seek and plant, seek and plant and reap the benefits.
Embrace your emotional pain, it's your soul's way of telling you it's time to grow!
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2 comments:
Love it Joanne :) I too am learning to not use food as a distraction from my emotional pain. I try and ask myself "Will this bless/nourish my body?" before I eat and I have found it has helped tremendously. I too enjoy podcasts/self-help books - one in particular that helped me a long my journey was a podcast called "heavy brain" and the episode was called 'Confessions of a fast food addict' there are two parts - I truly believe this podcast helped push me forward in my journey to changing my relationship with food. Thanks for the blog posts - they are inspirational.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom I so enjoy the continued connection! I will check out that podcast, "heavy brain" is such an accurate description of how so many of us might describe our thoughts. I've often described my relationship with food as dysfunctional and I'm trying to redefine it: at this time my relationship with food is often fear based and I am moving it towards love based. I guess that's where your question of "Will this bless/nourish my body?" will come in handy. Thank you!
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