“Just one more bite.” I recite in my mind as I savor the last buttery piece of donut and lick the sweet glaze from my thumb. The last bite somehow always satisfies my sweet tooth making me want more, yet my conscience reminds me once again, “why do I keep doing this to my body?”
Not that a simple donut is necessarily bad, but the fact that I’ve indulged in every sweet treat that I’ve come across throughout the day, and even throughout the past week. That’s when I begin to realize, I’ve overdone it again.
Does this ever happen to you?
You can go for long periods of time making healthy choices for a while, and then somehow you find yourself going back to old patterns of habits that aren’t always necessarily healthy for your body or even your mental and spiritual health.
These past two weeks I caught myself working out less, binge eating late at night, as well as overindulging in sweet bread which tends to be my go to when I’m stressed. The problem is that the same thing that I use to cope with stress soon after brings me more stress as I begin to feel sluggish and down about my body. I begin to analyze my waist size and weighing myself on the scale to later binge eat a bit more out of guilt and shame… And so the cycle begins.
Although for me, this results in binge eating, for you might be something else such as smoking weed, alcohol, sex, porn, excessive shopping, extreme working out sessions, sleeping more, etc. Whatever the case may be, we all have our go to when we’re stressed.
But, why do we fall into these unhealthy cycles in the first place?
I realize that my pattern begins when I overcommit myself to things that my body and mind cannot handle. For example, taking in more clients in a day at work than I should.
Working as a barber for me has become more than just creating the perfect blurred out fade and the sharply shaved beard. It’s become a place to connect with each individual as I carefully listen to each persons struggles, accomplishments and state of heart which is my favorite part of my career.
So, what’s the problem?
When we over extend ourselves it is nearly impossible to serve well for long term. We might be able to serve for a good amount of time, but if we’re over extending ourselves to the point we begin to damage to our physical, mental and spiritual health we can then no longer serve to our best potential and it often can become more of serving ourselves for financial purposes, for our own recognition, to people please, and sometimes because we think of success outside of God’s will.
How do we fix this issue then?
We first need to identify what success means to us.
To most people success has become someone whom has large amounts of money, runs a business, lives in Hollywood, etc. But how many people do we often hear about with addictions and they are in fact, all or at least one of these things society defines as success.
What if I told you that success is actually looking into your own life regardless of where you are?
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
~Proverbs 14:23
Proverbs 14:23, says it’s plain and clear. All hard work brings profit. Which means, whatever we work hard on will bring us profit, but when we simply talk about things without action or even a plan, then we set ourselves up for failure which then leads to feelings of unworthiness, stress, confusion and so on that the cycle of binge eating, smocking, drinking and so on begins.
Here are three steps to minimize falling into old unhealthy habits:
- Redefine what success means to you. Example: living to please God in all that I do. Having peace within myself towards decisions I make. Living out my purposes without fear of people judging me. Choosing to eat for nourishment instead of out of stress. Learning to give myself grace after failing at something…
- Rediscover what your purpose is. In a blank sheet of paper write out your talent (what you do best), passion (what you love to do most), and your mission (results that matter to you). When you use what you do best, to do what you love to do most, to produce results that matter deeply to you, you define your “sweet spot” and gain clarity towards purposes you were created to live by.
- Rearrange your priorities. What matters most to you in this season of life? What is your next right thing? This could be loosing weight, becoming debt free, starting a business, taking better care of your marriage, dating on purpose or healing from your past. There’s no wrong answer here. We are all on a certain season of life and all seasons require our commitment. Don’t compare your season to someone else’s. (Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
The reason why it is so crucial to redefine success, rediscover our purpose, and rearranging our priorities is because we need to have a concrete vision for what we’re aiming at regardless of what that may look like to you in your current season of life.
Have you ever gotten excited about a certain idea and then just went for it without a written out why and plan and then not too long after burned out or noticed yourself slowing down loosing your vision for it? Me too! I totally have and it’s not fun…
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 reminds us to be on guard because there will most definitely always be distractions when we work on our God given purposes, to stand firm in our faith trusting God in all that we do for His glory, to be courageous and strong as we commit to the work and most importantly to do everything with love.
God knows your weaknesses, but He also knows why He created you. He makes no mistake. He created you on purpose and for a purpose…
And remember, your work nor your past defines you. God does. Regardless of where you’ve been or where you are, you are seen, heard, known and loved. Your life matters…
Trust God and Do Good…
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Kingdom Beauty Design 
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