Ok, here’s something for you to do today: drop your clothes and get naked in front of a full length mirror (yeah, wait til you get home, don’t do this at work, lol).
Serious?
Yeah, I’m completely, 100% serious. I mean, answer me this: do you or do you not want to look great naked?!
Seriously – you’re living here on this Earth in your marvelous physical body, and I’m going to bet that if you haven’t been taking care of that body of yours that you’re not jumping for joy at the thought of getting naked in front of that full length mirror today.
New Year’s was Two Months Ago
Wanna know why I’m asking you to do this today? Because today is March 2, 2009 – we are 2 months into the New Year and if you made any kind of New Year’s Resolution or commitment to yourself 2 months ago that you were going to lose weight and get fit and you haven’t made any progress, then now is the time to do something about it. Two months ago “do it now” could have amounted to a 16 pound fat loss by today, if you were doing it the healthy way.
Remember, I wouldn’t suggest that you force yourself to change but I do know the power of inspired action and there are many ways to inspire yourself to act. Before you’ll find that inspiration though, you’ve got to get real and get honest with yourself, and oftentimes you will avoid mirrors and even looking at yourself fully clothed because you want to maintain an image in your head of how you used to be.
Well all change begins with the full awareness (consciousness) of where you are today, and if you’re hiding from yourself, getting naked will open your eyes.
Awareness, Not Criticism
Hey, this isn’t an exercise in berating or criticizing yourself either – you are where you are and that’s ok, but even though that’s an awesome affirmation and it will help you love you today, don’t you want to make healthy changes and get fit? Isn’t that the direction that you wish to head?
Ok then, this serves as your friendly reminder that today is the day to get naked and get real with yourself – not only naked as in your body, but also naked and real in your mind and emotions. If you cannot be completely honest with yourself then how can you possibly move forward? How can you treat yourself with love and respect and healthy actions that will create that fit body you want for yourself if you keep telling yourself that “it’s not that bad”… when it really is?
All change begins now – not tomorrow, or next Monday (hey, today is Monday! 😉 ), or next year – it’s all now. And you cannot tell me that telling yourself that you’ll do it tomorrow has worked – you’re talking to someone who has been there and done that, and nothing changes until you claim your personal power, step up to the plate, get real with yourself, and take action that’s inspired from within…NOW.
And yes, you can gain inspiration in many ways, and just maybe you’ll find that your inspiration comes today in the form of seeing yourself as you really are today in that mirror.
It All Starts Now
You’ve gotta see yourself to accept yourself and then change yourself. Why not make this your day that will be the day you look back on and claim as the day you stood up for you by becoming your own best friend. The day that you got naked and got real with you.
I think that sounds like a much better plan than standing in front of that mirror 10 months from now on January 1st and saying that you’re going to “do it” then. There are 43 weeks left in 2009 and if you only dropped 2 pounds a week you could be 86 pounds lighter by December 31, that is if you have that much weight to lose.
Now that’s something to get real about today if you have 100 pounds or more to lose, isn’t it?
Photo by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino ² ³
Thank you for much for all your posts. This is one I started doing a couple of weeks ago to be honest with myself. Cloths are not hiding anything and I need to realize what my body really, truly and honestly looks like. As hard as it has been it has helped me.
Hi JoLynn,
I like your blog. However, when I try and view it on my laptop, Your new pop up blocks the screen and I can’t read it! I’m using FireFox, and I can’t scroll down to hit the “Close” button. If possible, you might want to set up the pop up so that it doesn’t appear when someone has already signed up? Or maybe make the box a little wider and shorter. Just thought you’d like to know.
– Dave
David at Animal-Kingdom-Workoutss last blog post..Bodyweight Exercises and Hill Sprints (without the hills)
I remember the day it “got real” with me – I was 177 pounds and saw myself in the mirror as I stole some of my kids’ candy. Embarrassing now to admit it! But that time, back in 12/2006, got me to turn the key in my mind and change my lifestyle.
It’s all in how important something is *really* to you…
Data points, Barbara
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coachs last blog post..Mastering the Pullup
Awesome, you know Exactly what I’m talkin’ about cuz you’re already doin’ it yourself! 🙂 Keep it up. 🙂
David, thank you so much, it works for me on my laptop but I must have diff resolution than yours so I’m very glad you told me. 🙂 I’ll work on that today.
Barbara, you said it right there – it really does come down to how real it is and how much value you give to it…personally I think that there isn’t anything of greater value than your health, but everyone has to get to that on their own time. Glad to know you are rockin’ on with your process and feelin’ fine, er, awesome is more like it! 🙂
Hey David, I fixed it, let me know if you have any more problems with it and thanks again for letting me know. 🙂
What an inspirational post! Definitely the kind of thing that people need to hear, particularly the part about not berating or belittling yourself if you’re not where you want to be. And those numbers…you can’t argue with math!
I’ve gotta go find my camera! 🙂