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    “Why quit cigarettes or all those sweets you’ve been eating?  Isn’t life short and meant to be enjoyed?  Don’t you deserve a treat?  Yes, these are the justifications I gave myself too.  And they’re a load of bull.  Life is short, so why waste it on pure junk?  Those things don’t make you happy—if anything, they made me less and less happy about myself.  I’ve been happier once I gave up those habits and learned to be healthy and trustworthy to myself.  Eating healthy food is a treat.  Living smoke-free is pure bliss.  But the biggest reason to change is that you love yourself.  You don’t need to harm yourself to find happiness and contentment.  Taking care of yourself is a form of self-compassion, and the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll feel good about how you’re loving yourself.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 148)

      “You don’t control the results of growing a plant—it will grow however it grows, because we don’t have god-like powers that can control how a plant will grow.  You don’t control the outcome, but you do control the inputs.  You can water it, give it more sunlight, feed it some nutrients, give it good soil, make sure bugs aren’t eating it.  You control the inputs and environment, but not the outcome.  So Grow a Plant when you’re making changes: you don’t control the outcome, so you can’t get fixated on it.  Don’t attach too tightly to the results of a change.  Instead, focus on creating a good environment.  Focus mostly on the inputs: what are you bringing to the change?  What is your intention?  What is your effort?  What is your enjoyment and mindfulness?  If you do this with weight loss, then you don’t focus on the weight loss itself.  You focus on the input: what kind of food are you eating? Are you eating mindfully?  Do you have a compassionate intention when it comes to your eating?  Are you exercising mindfully?  Are you giving yourself a good environment to support these changes?  If you focus on the inputs, you don’t know what the plant of your weight loss change will result in.  Maybe it will mean a slimmer version of you, maybe a healthier one, maybe a stronger one with more muscle.  You don’t know exactly, because you can’t sculpt your body like clay.  What you can do is water it, give it sunlight and good nutrients, and see how it grows.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 57)

      Proverb About Small Steps Versus Giant Leaps and Having An ‘All-Or-Something’ Mindset

        “It is better to make many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”

        Proverb

        Beyond the Quote (Day 3)

        When it comes to following through with new goals or resolutions, don’t be an all-or-nothing; be an all-or-something.  An all-or-nothing is the type of person who is either all-in or all-out.  Either everything they planned is unfolding perfectly and is being executed flawlessly, or it’s not and they place blame, come up with excuses, and quit.

        Read More »Proverb About Small Steps Versus Giant Leaps and Having An ‘All-Or-Something’ Mindset

          “If you cannot feel your emotions, if you are cut off from them, you will eventually experience them on a purely physical level, as a physical problem or symptom.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 25)

            “When it comes to nutrition I am an, ‘anti-perfectionist.’  I am a lot more concerned with building a consistent routine that you’re actually going to stick to, rather than building the perfect diet.” ~ Thomas Frank, via YouTube

              “We try to direct the mind toward recognizing reality.  This is a chant that is recited daily in Buddhist monasteries: ‘Breathing in and out, I am aware of the fact that I am of the nature to die; I cannot escape dying.  I am of the nature to grow old; I cannot escape old age.  I am of the nature to get sick.  Because I have a body, I cannot avoid sickness.  Everything I cherish, treasure and cling to today, I will have to abandon one day.  The only thing I can carry with me is the fruit of my own action.  I cannot bring along with me anything else except the fruit of my actions in terms of thought, speech and bodily acts.'” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

                “If you look at a friend with the eyes of a meditator, you will see in him or her all generations of their ancestors.  You will be very respectful to them and to your own body because you will see their body and your body as the sacred home of all our ancestors.  You will also see that our bodies are the source of all future generations.  We will not damage our bodies, because that wouldn’t be kind to our descendants.  We do not use drugs and we do not eat or drink things that have toxins or that will harm our bodies.  This is because our insight of manifestation helps us to live in a healthy way, with clarity and responsibility.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

                  “You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy.  Everything else is just sprinkles on the sundae.” ~ Paul Walker

                    “You can be fit without being healthy, but you can’t be healthy without being fit.  Meaning… you can be in great shape on the outside, but if you don’t eat great and don’t take care of your insides, you aren’t necessarily healthy.  History shows us there were plenty of athletes who were in great shape but suddenly died of a heart attack.  Balance is key.” ~ Jesse Itzler, Living With A SEAL

                      “Whether people change their mindset in order to further their career, heal from a loss, help their children thrive, lose weight, or control their anger, change needs to be maintained.  It’s amazing – once a problem improves, people often stop doing what caused it to improve.  Once you feel better, you stop taking your medicine.  But change doesn’t work that way.  When you’ve lost weight, the issue doesn’t go away.  Or when your child starts to love learning, the problem isn’t solved forever.  Or when you and your partner start communicating better, that’s not the end of it.  These changes have to be supported or they can go away faster than they appeared.” ~ Carol Dweck, Mindset

                        “Life is meant to be enjoyed. Sure, I agree with this statement (as many of us would) but the problem is this is used to justify all kinds of crappy behavior. Might as well scarf down those Doritos and Twinkies, because hey, life is meant to be enjoyed, right? No. You can do without junk food and still enjoy life. You can exercise and enjoy it. You can give up pretty much anything and still enjoy life, if you learn to see almost any activity as enjoyable.” ~ Leo Babauta, Blog