Dear Me,

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Dear Me, I am sorry to say it is time for some tough love. This letter has been a work in progress. But then much of your life seems to head in that direction. What I am going to tell you will not be news, it is not meant to hurt, but this is meant to motivate and help. You're struggling. You and I both know it. You've whined, you've reflected, and now it it time to do the work. You want this journey, but you're terrified. Take a moment to really hear that. Yes, you can do this, but it means changing everything. Doesn't that sentence sound loaded? Too much to do. Too much to change. Too much to imagine. But now, here is the good news. That's the prize! That's where all the efforts and attempts and hopes are aimed. That everything is going to change. That you deserve to feel more energetic. That you stop feeling extremely self conscious (of yourself and those around you). That both the critical and fearful voices calm themselves. The journey is certainly not easy, but it was never promised that it would be. I know when we were in the full swing of things working hard, feeling great, and then nothing. After a long period of time without any weight change the journey became super frustrating. But think back to when we were putting in the effort, the time, and the heart? Weren't you feeling better? More confident? More energetic? And just. . . happier? The numbers on a scale are not the only measure and you know that. But after a couple of months there should have been a change. That created a whallop slam against the motivation. However, let's be honest, there could have been a little more tweaks in the system on both the meals and the exercise. No one is expecting you to be flawless, except maybe yourself. Were you doing good? Absolutely! Were you doing great? Sometimes. Was their room for improvement? Yeah, and that was all the scale was saying. A few more tweaks in a couple of different areas were needed. Again, this is a journey not a sprint. No overall transformation has to take place overnight, nor should. Tweaks, changes, those can happen in a second. String them together, taking only one moment at a time, and the overall will G-R-A-D-U-A-L-L-Y change. Now, it is time to refocus. Some bad habits quickly recaptured their place in your routine. They can be quickly ousted. It may be harder to recommit. You've stumbled, and once we come across a roadblock it is easy to get discouraged. And that's something that weighs especially hard on your heart. You may easily find triumphant energy, but the other side is that discouragement can quickly snatch that victory away. We gotta work on that! Enjoy the good moments, learn from the rough, and never succumb to the ugly. So what big changes can we work towards in baby steps. First, let's accomplish the LIST. The ever-present always adding List of Undone. That list grows continually. I know good-byes and closed doors are not your thing. But on your list is over twenty-five things that are up in the air, to worry, to weigh on your shoulders and heart, to suck up time, at a second's notice. Now this isn't your daily to-do list. This is the list that you carry every day, through every year, going on decades now. And let's discuss this fondness for lists briefly, lists are great to get organized but they don't count as actually doing. Remember that! So, let's take the List of Undone and Finish it. Each item falls into three categories: Finish, Forgive, or Forget. Let's look at some examples. Finish: Get the Christmas Cards Out, PRONTO! Forget: this one is going to hurt, brace yourself, forget your dream to return to Covenant Players. I know that you want to honor that commitment, but life has changed and picking up to travel isn't going to become a viable option soon. Think of different ways to honor them. Forgive: Apologize to the world about the wedding thank yous. Tell the World "I messed up! I wanted to send out the world's most perfect thank you from the heart that was to be charming, impressive and showing creativity but overlooked it was an opportunity to just humbly say thank you for celebrating one of life's biggest blessings. So often I have thought how to send them out in a cute manner even as late as our six year wedding anniversary. I originally addressed the envelopes before the wedding so that I could be timely and efficient and found them two weeks ago when I lamented that life just kept throwing the craziest ironies our way. I feel like the world's biggest schmuck and all I can say is Thank you and I am so sorry I didn't make it more personal in a timelier manner. " I truly believe by just competing the List of Undone a lot of weight (pun and literal) will begin to finally release its hold on your life. It is time to clear out the clutter and the chaos. And Fully Understand Life by Living. I think the other two steps in the HealthFULL Journey include going back to the original objectives and to just do them. No procrastinating, no lamenting, no complaining, no half-way attempts, do the best you can and move forward. Not everyday is going to be perfect. But every day you are going to try your best and that's it. No worrying or fretting about more or the route of perfection. And Third and lastly, Enjoy the FULL approach. Count your blessings and truly embrace the last two-thirds of this "planned" Journey. You can do it. Find your rhythm, figure out what results you want, and then Embrace it. This is gonna sound schmeepy but I am proud of you. and I think you know, I love you too. So, to sum up this long-worded but needed letter. I want you to complete the List of Undone, to review your goals and planned actions for this HealthFULL Journey, and then to Embrace the idea of Fulling Understanding Life by Living. I'm glad we found the time to talk. Now, get to work! :) <3 Always, Me who is also You :)