When is enough, enough?

First of all, my post today comes from listening to Dr. David Cooper's sermon this morning at Mt. Paran Church of God.  I'm not exactly committing plagiarism.  Not really. But it was such a universal message and can apply to so many areas of our lives that I had to share. For the last two Sundays he has talked to us about change.  Real change.  It made me think of many areas of my life but it certainly brought back memories of a Saturday in 2002 when I said to myself - "if I do nothing else today I am going to the gym and sign up with a personal trainer."  I was 30 some pounds overweight and had had enough.

I've never looked back or slid back into a pattern of not putting diet and exercise high on my list of priorities.  I actually look forward to going to the gym and challenging myself.  After a hard workout, a meal of seasoned broiled chicken, rice and roasted broccoli (made so simply from a recipe I found on PreparedbyPaige) is quite delicious.

Back to Dr. Cooper's message today.  There are 3 necessary components for real change.  Number one is pain. You've hit rock bottom, whether it is with food addiction, chemical addiction, a relationship, a health scare, you name it as there are many things that cause us pain.  Pain can be good in that it screams at you - enough is enough!  So you decide to do something.

Second is hope.  When I decided I needed a personal trainer,  I had hope that I would finally get results.  Weight Watchers just wasn't doing the trick, and I was discouraged. Now however, with the prospect and commitment of working with a trainer, there was hope.  I started seeing improvement immediately and nothing breeds success like success.   Now my goal was in sight.

Last but not least is a strategy to reach your goal.  Feeling the pain, feeling the hope was all good but I also needed a strategy.  My plan was to work with a trainer 3 days a week and to modify my diet so that I was choosing healthier foods.  (Know that there's a difference between "modifying your diet" and  GOING ON A

I had a strategy that was born out of pain and hope.  I stuck with the strategy and it became a way of life.  Change happened.  Simple. Start today.