It’s not because your hormones are out of whack, it’s not because you’re ‘big-boned’, you’re not the victim of your genetic endowment, it’s not your parents fault, or society’s, it’s not the education system, or your lack of money, it’s not your job, you’re not a victim of advertising, or government misinformation, or environmental degradation, you’re not the victim of demographics, or overzealous friends, or scientific fraud, or because God himself deemed it so. You’re fat because you ate it.
The longest journey starts with a single step. That step is to own the situation you find yourself in. Like an alcoholic at their first AA meeting, admit to yourself, then to those around you the unvarnished truth. The process of digging yourself out of the hole can then begin.
Owning the mistakes you’ve made can have a profound effect upon your psyche and set the scene for life changing alterations. Not owning up to it adds fuel to the spark that was the initial mistake thus igniting a firestorm of potential problems.
Honesty implies integrity. Blame and omission (hoping no one will notice, or worse, lying to yourself) are childish and betray a lack of inner resolve. Be accountable to yourself by proving that you can own up to the fact that you’re overweight, and that it’s your own fault. It’s empowering to do this.
Self-deception is like a shadow forever following those lacking inner resolve.
Before continuing, take a few minutes to review my previous article on the common self-deception ‘loopholes’ to which many fall prey.
https://thecarousel.com/wellness/mood-and-mind/how-do-you-overcome-self-deception/
We have a tendency to run away from the truth. When things are not working, it is easy to place the blame externally. In order to emerge stronger on the other side, we need to not only accept our faults but own them!
The primordial instinct to avoid pain and suffering is deeply ingrained within us. So, become conscious of this tendency, and deliberately confront what you fear. It is in this realm that self-actualisation occurs.
Famed Navy Seal and ultra-athlete David Goggins says that suffering is the only way you can grow. When you’re trying to run a marathon, you have to build calluses on your feet. And when you’re trying to get ahead in life, you have to build calluses in your brain.
To be mentally tough, you have to accept adversity. It’s part of the human condition. It’s the fertiliser from which self-growth blossoms.
Goggins says, “ït’s ok to be called fat. Let people call you that. They don’t control you…thicken your skin”. Goggins advises that “to truly find greatness, you have to go inside”. Find a quiet place, and sit alone. Ponder the course of your life and how it has shaped you. What wrong turns have you made? How have these decisions fueled your belief system? Refuse to be a victim of these decisions and the negative core beliefs they have spawned. The point of power is the present moment. Now, over to you!
The Carousel would like to thank J. A Gleeson for his article. He is a Personal Trainer at Tribe Social Fitness, Sutherland Shire, Sydney.
