Thursday, January 5, 2017

2017 is Your Year to Rise!


Perhaps 2016 wasn’t all that you hoped it would be and the trials and heartaches that you faced have left you feeling paralyzed, not knowing exactly how to move forward.  I know for me personally, 2016 was one of the most trying and difficult years I’ve ever had to face.  Trial after trial left me feeling like I was walking around with a “kick me” sign on my back and it was hard to take a step forward when I was surrounded by such turmoil!  I wanted to get up and run my race but I was deeply wounded, life’s trials had hit me so hard that I was left feeling like I couldn't move on. Has life ever hit you so hard, you felt like you can’t move?

Success in life has a high price tag and each obstacle and trial that you will face in life has the potential to either make or break you.  If you press on and endure through life’s trials you will eventually reach your finish line and you’ll be thankful for each scar you received on your way there.  Those scars will serve as reminders of how you overcame that which you thought you couldn’t. On the other hand, if you allow a trial to consume you and you stop running your race, that trial just robbed you of ever accomplishing your goal or reaching your finish line.  Trust me, I know all too well just how heartbreaking and painful trials in life can be, but in midst of every trial you will face there comes that pivotal moment- that Rocky Balboa second- when your down on the ground losing the fight and the decision is in your hands to either stay down and give up or to get up again and keep fighting.  Are you going to let the trials, setbacks, disappointments and heartaches in life hold you down?  Or are you going to rise up from the ashes of yesterday’s disappointments and fight for everything you believe in? 


There is always a sense of excitement that comes with the beginning of each new year.  A turning of the page in the book of life; a time to start fresh in pursuing our goals.  Many people make resolutions at the beginning of a new year, which are the personal goals they hope to accomplish in the year ahead.  While they are quick to write these resolutions, they often overlook the idea that in order to be successful in establishing a new mindset or goal, their old destructive mindsets must first be shed. Maybe this is why statistically of all the New Year’s resolutions that are made each year only 8% are actually achieved (Forbes Magazine Online).  We really need to practice what Disney’s character Elsa proclaims so famously in the movie Frozen, we must learn to “Let it go”.  Let go of those hurts that are holding us back, because, really we’re only setting ourselves up for failure when we’re still holding on to disappointments and failures of yesterday.   In order to successfully pursue the new, we must first let go of the old. 

When it comes to weight loss, many have tried before and failed.  They start out each time with a new diet or exercise routine but they fail to fully shed their old destructive mindsets from the past. They have the best intentions to succeed but more times often than not, that negative mindset creeps back in and take over, which results in you guessed it, another failed attempt.  This concept can be seen across the board in people’s lives- it’s why we continue to fail at losing weight, it’s why we have failed relationships, it’s why we return to addictions, and it’s why we get “stuck” in life and are unable to move forward.   If you want the new, you must take the time to address the old and let go of it in order to successfully attain your goal. For me personally, I failed at least 30 times (probably more) at losing my excess weight and keeping it off before I actually succeeded.  My desire for losing weight was the same in each attempt, so what happened that made me successful in my final attempt? Among many other things, it was the shedding of the destructive mindset that I was following a “diet” and having an “all or nothing” approach and now embracing the new mindset that it was a lifelong health journey. It seems so simple now looking back, but it honestly took me over 10 years, a lot of horrible "diets", and a lot of failed attempts to finally make the realization that being on a “diet” would never work and that if I wanted to be healthy I would have to embrace a new mindset.  What destructive mindsets are holding you back from your goals?  I can’t stress the importance for you to take some time to reflect on your past failures and identify the destructive mindsets that you need to let go!

Let 2017 be your year to rise up and achieve your goals.  Shake off those old destructive mindsets and lay to rest the disappointments from your past and step out into the new!  Speak new life into those old dreams and goals that you gave up on because you failed so many times! Let go of how many times you failed- it’s never too late my friend, you’re never too far gone or too old to accomplish your goals or to make new ones! Get a new mind and you will get new results! May 2017 be your year to rise up and boldly fight for the victory in your life!


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