I am always amazed by the tenacity babies demonstrate when they are learning to crawl and walk. Babies reach, grab, toddle, wobble and fumble and with each missed take, they are one step closer to mastering the skill of crawling and walking. This determination is innate within us as human beings and yet sometimes, we selectively forget that we have and continue to master seemingly insurmountable feats when it comes to our health and well being.
In continuation of my "Health Is..." posts, I'll share the story of Helena. Helena is an acquaintance who once told me about an emotional situation that turned her into a food addict. After several years of poor food seeking behaviors, Helena was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and depression. Encouraged to seek counseling for the emotional underpinning of her ailments, Helena met a therapist who helped her see the lessons from the issues she was facing. Helena eventually moved from victim to victor and worked hard to turn her health around. When she was sharing this story with me, Helena was free of the diabetes and the depression. She was at a slim weight of 140 pounds, very ideal for her frame and she was thriving in her health and other areas of her life.
Helena and I spoke about many things that day and one of the other lessons we both gained from her experience was the notion of looking at our experiences and situations as chapters of a book or movie in motion. I shared with Helena that I only have "missed takes" and believe I can rewind and replay, just like if I were in front of a camera, acting out a scene. We chatted about how poignant that could be for our experiences and situations and decided it would be good lessons to impart on others.
It has been 10 years since I last saw Helena, and I still continue to share the "missed takes, rewind, and replay with the lesson learned" concept with others. We will not be perfect with our daily health goals. As a matter of fact, I advice maintaining the philosophy of being "perfectly flawed" or "living flawsome" so we don't beat ourselves up too much for every little missed take we make. This makes it okay for us to make mistakes and learn from them and move on. The idea that mistakes are lessons helping us to be better is also a good one.
So, look at areas of your health and well being for "missed take" opportunities that you can rewind and replay with the lesson with the lesson learned accompanying your new actions.