Where Are You Channeling Your Energy?

I began my weight loss journey several months ago. My energy level was high when I first began. I worked out regularly, ate healthy and began working towards getting to bed on time. Then I hit a dead spot. I felt drained often. I had intense cravings for sweets and fried foods. My energy went from my personal health to what I am not doing right, my to-do list, and why I'm not able to get any rest at night. Goals I made for school did not go through. I felt the pressures of advancing my career and then the added pressure from my current career. Always feeling tired I knew something had to give. I had to focus on where I was channeling my energy.

As the seasons changed I noticed I did as well. Being self-aware I noticed I did not feel my normal energetic, positive self. Then the guilt set in. Then anxiety set in. All energy zappers! I began to crave sweets and I put off working out for one week that eventually ended up being almost a month. Exercise and diet are factors in having a well balanced life. Stop fighting the universe and align with it! The Law of attraction states that we will receive abundant living when we practice abundant living. In short, you get back what you put out. It is that simple. If you want a great body and healthy skin what are you doing to receive that? How much time do you invest in your personal well being? Where are you channeling your energy?

Your beliefs form your reality. You do not like your reality? Change your beliefs. To help shape my beliefs I placed affirmations on my mirror in my bathroom. Every time I look in the mirror I will be reminded of my personal truth. Do you have a favorite quote or an affirmation that helps you when you are not feeling your best? Post that on your mirror, door, wall, or refrigerator, whatever you know you will look at throughout the day. Our mind is a very powerful energy source for the bible says in Proverbs 23:7 (NASV) For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

Our spiritual well being helps us get through low energy times. An active prayer life and just making time for relaxation helps to renew the spirit and give us new found energy. I have gotten back in the word like I did several years ago as I was searching for my personal truth. I now study the word to nurture my soul. The life principles in the Bible give me insight on how to live my life day to day. I put my energy in being a child of GOD, a Christian whose life is a reflection of Christ's LOVE. Instead of always striving to be perfect, I have found peace with just being me. My focus has shifted from always being about my future to living each moment fulfilled day to day. I will continue to put my energy into activities I enjoy and will energize me. I will not go to places or spend time with people who zap my energy. When I want to stay home and rest on the weekends I honor that. Set your intentions to practice better habits of meditation, prayer, tasty healthy meals, getting rest and a desire to exercise. For what you put your energy into will manifest in your life!

Cravings!!!

While in class yesterday my co-teacher was playing play-doh with the students. The teacher made a dog and some Hersey Kisses Cookies. As soon as I seen the play-doh cookie, my cravings began. Yes, play-doh cookies trigger my cravings because they looked just like the real thing, lol. I have a problem with giving into temptations. If I see something I like then I will crave it until I get it. I do not like NO, or being told you can not have it. Being denied what I want for me as a Scorpio is being denied the right to a full life. So learning to practice discipline with eating is my current goal. So I did not give it another thought. I took a deep breath and kept working on my lesson plan. I confessed to my colleagues that if I talk about or even see a commercial of something I want I will began to crave it. I then will go and get it. We all laughed. Marketing experts know what they are doing!! Shortly after one teacher said "well then I want a million dollars". We laughed again, but this time something touched me. When we really look at our cravings deeply it is telling us we lack something. The answer depends on what the cravings are. Our desires or cravings are in us for a reason. Our desire is our passion towards what it is we want out of life. So why don't we pursue our passions as aggressively as we pursue our vices?

For some of us to think about becoming a millionaire the first thought might be, yea right. Some may have found peace with the idea of not having that much money, but strive for other goals. Maybe a desire to live free of debit. To loose a few pounds. To quit their dead end job and start their own business. Whatever those personal cravings are, I am encouraging us to get it. Just like when we pursue that skirt on sale or those new pair of J's. If we have the courage to dig deep we will see that there are things we deeply crave, but some how they are on the back burner.

I am a goal nut! I have owned a planner every year sense my junior year in college back in 2001. I keep track of my progress wither it has to do with personal or professional goals. It helps me to live an orderly life. I will admit that I have not pursued most of my goals with the same desire as I go after my vices. You know the things we know we should avoid but give them too much power? Like sweets, men or women who should not be in our lives, or over spending and not enough saving. Those things that keep us bound up and not living the life we really crave!

Visiting my sisters job a older gentlemen asked me what brought me from Oklahoma all the way to Northern VA. I simply answered "better opportunities". As we began to talk he asked why was I not in the public school like I desired but teaching in Head Start. It's not a knock to Head Start he said, but when you know someone is great you wonder why they are not living up to their full potential. We talked for ten minutes and he gave me a good ol' fashion pep talk. And some gems, because several years ago he was a teacher also:) The blessing in diguise was I knew that I was not aggressively pursuing my goals. I was aware of them and working towards them, but not as diligently as I ought too. So right away I received the message as a word from GOD and reflected on my goals when I went home.

Dictionary.com says the definition of cravings is great or eager desire; yearning. To yearn for something so much that it is all you think about. You will not stop at anything until you gain it. Usually this is seen in a negative light. You know how to stop bad habits? Replacing them with better ones. So to put a spin on our negative cravings let's invest time on the positive ones. The cravings that will get us to the place in our life we desire. Push yourself through the discomfort. Affirm yourself by saying things like "The positive cravings is what you really want", "In order to break the cycle it starts with me", "We do not stop habits, we make better ones". Talk yourself out of your low moment so you can come out of it feeling better and stronger than you did before. You have all the power within! It is up to you what and whom you give that power too.