Sunday 26th July 2009 - Bridging The Gap

A few days ago a friend was telling me about some personal issues that he was facing that really weren't all that serious in the big scheme of things and he laughed and said .. "all I need to do is build a bridge .... and then get over it".

We then both laughed because he meant that he had to get on with life and not let "the small stuff" that he had been focusing on, allow it to get him down as none were life threatening and none were substantial.

Later that day, I was thinking about the saying that he had used and how I'm sure that there are times when we all have been in similar situations, that at the time seem insurmountable but in reality don't affect us physically but can and do limit us emotionally.

So when we are "inside the emotional situation", we often find ourselves going through the aspects of our problem with internal dialogue or those voices in your head that don't appear to be too friendly. Sadly they seem to talk us down and can add to our feelings of negativity. Imagine if we treated our friends the way we treat ourselves, I'm pretty sure that the friendship wouldn't last very long and in fact you wouldn't want them as a friend.

Now back to building bridges.

This kind of follows on from my last blog about movement and action. Often we are limited in our understanding of the reason we are sad, upset or "damaged" so the normal reaction is to lock ourselves away and limit human contact. That way we don't have to explain what has or is happening and equally we don't have to listen to the "experts" on our lives.

My personal bridge to recovery is always to focus on what I am doing right at that moment that is healthy for me. Positive thoughts, lead to positive actions, and for that I need a positive plan. I know that we all can't change factors of our lives such as our job or our money situation but there is ONE factor that we can always work on improving. That is our HEALTH.

I tell people all the time in my Spin classes and anyone who asks me about fitness and health topics, that fitness is earned and fat loss becomes the bi-product. For example if you are actively burning more calories than you are consuming, then there is a greater chance that you are contributing to your fat loss goals.

Now with an eating plan that is complimentary to those activity efforts, you are moving positively forward for YOU. Remember that the only true aspect of your life that you control every minute of every day, is what you put in your mouth. That is the personal responsibility part of the plan and we all need to do this.

More often than not when you "shift the focus" from negative problems to positive steps with a focus on healthier living, you will find that it will reflect on the outside (ie your body). It also has been proven to improve mental attitudes and reduce depression, which is what we feel like when we are in those dark places.

So what is my bridge ?

It's taking personal health steps that are focused on ME.

The first step to leading a full and generous life is to actually like who you are, what you are and what you do.

I encourage you all to try this and not only that - show the same amount of empathy to yourself that you would a friend because YOU are not a stranger in the mirror.