Accountability Partner

So, who do you have in your life to help keep you accountable as you move forward toward a healthier lifestyle? If you said, ‘the one in the mirror’, WRONG ANSWER! If you said, ‘God;He speaks to me about everything’, that may be true but, WRONG ANSWER! What HUMAN BEING other than yourself do you allow to look in your face and say, ‘Now you know you need to put that doughnut down!’ Who, after you’ve eaten like there is NO tomorrow, do you have in your life to tell you, ‘Today is just one day. You will do better tomorrow.’ Who will you listen to if they tell you, ‘Come on…give yourself a break….you’ve been doing well…..you deserve a little treat.’ Accountability is one of the reasons I continue to attend Weight Watchers® meetings on a weekly basis, and weigh in monthly as suggested for all Weight Watchers® Lifetime members. I have a roomful of people to keep me accountable EVERY week! (And even so, I wish I had an accountability partner who would call me some evenings and simply ask, ‘What are you having for dinner?’; because the dinner meal is often where I blow it. Often I’m running around and don’t have time for a nice meal OR, I get home and start munching (even healthy snacks can be dangerous if you eat too much of them), then lose my appetite because of all the healthy munching then by 9pm I’ll want to snack. HELP!) As a matter of fact I just returned from a Weight Watchers® meeting earlier tonight and my son said, ‘Why do you have to still go to those meetings?’ I politely informed him that I don’t ‘have’ to, but. I ‘choose’ to! So, who have you chosen to help keep you honest….to encourage you to run one more lap…..to take that walk with you when you don’t feel like it…..to eat crunchy veggies with you instead of crunchy potato chips? I have learned on this journey of embracing healthiness as a lifestyle that not only do I most certainly need God’s help, but I need a person or persons that will help me along the way when it’s difficult to do what I know to do! Sometimes I feel like the Apostle Paul when he said, “For what I am doing I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what hate I do.” (Romans 7:15) Another version puts it this way, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead I do what I hate.” I’m sure you’ve been there too! Come on! Be honest…..You have! That’s why we all need someone to help keep us accountable. So, who in your life needs you as much as you need them in this area? Who will be honest with you, and allow you to be honest with them? Who can you trust to hold you accountable? Your husband? Your wife? A co-worker? Your child(ren)? A sibling? A friend? A church member? Accountability is key!

Masters or Slaves?

Most women take pride in being masters of multi-tasking. As little girls we watched our grandmothers, mothers, and aunties take on several things at one time and we learned and then mastered the skill of multi-tasking with our own individual style. And, rightfully so, that we multi-task; there is just so much for us to do. It seems as if a woman’s work is never done. So, Yes, we do need to be able to accomplish/complete/work on more than one task at a time and do them well. Our husbands, children, and employers, are all counting on us to be able to do more than one thing at a time. That’s what women do! Isn’t it?! (And of course whatever we have been taught about the roles of men and women also have influenced our behavior in this area.) But, I wonder …..are we masters or slaves? It is almost impossible for me – and most women - to come home from work and sit down and do nothing; even if I’m tired. Yet my husband – and most men, as wonderful as they are, and we love them dearly – most men don’t have a problem with this. They come in and plop right in front of the television and it’s O.K. with them. No guilt. No shame. No fuss. Just peace. Unless I am exhausted, something within me won’t let me sit down until I’ve ‘done’ something, i.e. cooked, straightened up, opened mail, called someone, typed something, etc. Have I really mastered multi-tasking or have I become a slave to it? And, when I am multi-tasking do I make it even more challenging to have a healthy lifestyle? I believe I do. Knowing when our bodies need rest – and giving it that rest -, and not allowing ourselves to get stressed out is also a part of being healthy and fit. I believe we will have more time to eat healthier and exercise if we’re not ripping and running doing a gazillion things at one time or if we are not pushing our bodies beyond what they can actually handle! Years ago I was challenged to stop ‘doing’ and ‘be’. Just be a wife. Be a mother…....more being and less doing…. What a concept! It’s not easy……I NEED HELP!!! Observe the men in your life. Notice how they are not even TRYING to do more than one thing at a time and life goes on and they are not stressed out. There are always going to be dirty dishes. Children are always going to need something. There will always be dirty clothes in the laundry. If you miss a game there will always be another one. If you miss a church service, buy the tape, or there will always be another one. There will always be something that needs to be done. But we only get one life; one body; one mind. “……I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life…..” Deut 30:19a