We have heard it over and over…How can two walk together unless they agree? It is often used in the context of relationships especially where different faiths are in question but that isn’t the focus today. Ha! Gotcha!
The harder part of the health and wellness journey is keeping to it for rest of your days. Ask me! I have first-hand experience. I was always health minded and have done all I could to remain so but a few years ago after a particularly difficult season, I let go of the tenacious hold I had on my health and how I lived. It didn’t happen all in one day but I slowly lost focus on one thing, forgot another, couldn’t afford the next one and the rest is history; a slow glide down the slope. Soon I had gained weight and I was mad at myself for it but I couldn’t break the habits I had formed. Well, maybe more of didn’t want to put in the work than couldn’t do it.
Let me assure you, being mad didn’t help me lose weight and guilt ate at my sense of value. I was once again distraught but didn’t do anything about it. One day, when I had lost some weight or so I thought, I met an older gentleman I hadn’t seen for 20 years and his first words shocked me. He said, ‘Ah! Umenona!’ (Ah…you have grown fat). Yes, he said that. Oh no…he wasn’t being nasty and he didn’t mean to be mean, he just remembered me as the slim, size 10/12, 20 something year old he had last seen and he couldn’t reconcile this larger girl. It honestly hurt to be called fat and I didn’t tell him but it got me thinking again how I had let go and renewed the desire to do something about it.
Fast forward to the current journey I am on. There are some really drastic changes I have made in my life that may be hard to keep if I was alone. A great source of strength and support has been my girlfriends. Even as some of the things I eat or the quantities I consume are small, they have never given me room to stop. Some have even made provision for me to have special meal options when I go to their homes or as we eat out. They have encouraged me not to break the pattern or lose the faith asked questions to understand and encourage not demeaning. Another great source of strength is my lil man. He is the hard to please diet policeman who quickly stops me when I want to eat things I shouldn’t. He is as strong in opinion as coach and knows he has coach behind him so he pushes me to be the set I can be including making sure I exercise.
What is my point? We all have people we walk with who either encourage or discourage us depending on what life is like or how we interpret things. It is important to walk with people who make you a better version of yourself and push you to hear God and walk in his ways. It is important to understand that there is nothing as good as becoming all God has said you are and will be.
The simple lesson I have learnt is to keep away from people who discourage me even if they are family members because unless we are in agreement we cannot go a set direction together. Check your friendships and relationships to be sure they are adding value and not taking more out of your life that you can afford to give. Remember that with God all things are possible so you are able to become the fullness of who God says you are and then rise above that.
Focus on Him and what He says and He will make all things beautiful in his eyes