Let (This is an excerpt from my monthly ezine--if you would like to subscribe, go to my website and click on the piggy on the bottom of the page to subscribe.)
This month cities and towns across the States prepare for their respective annual 4th of July celebration. You may be planning a family BBQ for the 4th or perhaps you are anticipating the bright fireworks in the night skies (if you happen to be in a place where there is no fire hazard, that is). Wherever you may be, I wish you a safe celebration with friends and loved ones.
This posting focuses on "freedom." Our country was founded on the promise of freedom of expression and belief. Our European ancestors fled persecution and restriction of civil liberties in Britain, boarded ship in August 1620, braved the seas for 3 months, embarking on an uncertain future in the hopes of experiencing independence. Four months later, they stepped foot onto Cape Cod, establishing the first American village of Plimouth Plantation. This July, I encourage you, too, to bravely set out to achieve some freedom of your own in that I invite you to free yourself from a negative habit over the coming weeks. Let the next 31 days mark your personal journey to break free of a negative health or other personal habit and set sail toward a healthier lifestyle and a freer existence.
All along the Cape, red, white and blue is everywhere. One neighbor religiously repaints the trim of his gray shingled cottage red, white and blue each summer. This year, I notice, he's even gone so far as to suspend red and blue beer bottles onto the tree in his front yard. Flags fly in the breeze atop flag poles and the patriotic colors are on display in everything from window boxes to beach towels. Here in our little town on Cape Cod, folks take Indepedence Day very seriously as Falmouth holds a small paragraph in the history books in its victory over Britain during the Revolutionary War. Back in the late 1700s, as the American Revolution gained momentum, Falmouth suffered the effects of the British blockade and raids on local farms. One evening the town's militia head, Colonel Demmick, received an alert from the son of an innkeeper on nearby Naushon Island that the British planned to burn the town to the ground the following day. Col. Demmick and his militia of 160 were ready and successfully repelled the attack by a fleet of 10 English ships off Surf Drive the next day.
The battle I described took place on one of my favorite running routes. Sometimes I try to picture the British ships just off the sandy coast facing the brave residents of my little village as I run past the beach. I try to conjure up the determination the men must have felt as they prepared to engage in battle. It is unlikely that you nor I face a challenge to fend off an invading sloop in our everyday life, however, I believe that an opportunity exists for us to do battle with a tyrannical foe of our own this month. Mke this the month you break free from an unhealthy fondness for your couch at the end of the day or maybe you are now ready to wage war with your expanding waistline. Below I offer you suggestions to create your own strategy to achieve some freedom and emancipate yourself from the things that have kept you ensnared and discouraged.
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Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
Albert Camus
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It's All About Strategy
Just as Col. Demmick had to come up with a strategy to employ once he received word of the looming threat to his town, in order for you to be successful in your personal war for freedom it is important that you become well-versed in the strategy you will implement in your victory battle. We all know that change is hard...if it were easy, you wouldn't have need for this ezine or the stacks of books or dusty videos and CDs dedicated to weight loss, smoking cessation or "you fill in the blank topic" you have struggled with scattered around your home. Below are some questions to ask yourself that will help you gain clarity as you create your strategy:
1) What will my future be like if I change? For anyone to make a positive move in the direction of changing a long-standing behavior, one must become clear about why going through all the effort to change the behavior is worth their while. To gain clarity, write down all the things that will open up for you if you make this change. Perhaps you will be able to fit into your "skinny" jeans once again. Or maybe you will be able to register for your first 5K this Fall. If you commit to this change, then you may be able to play with your grandchildren in the backyard without becoming winded. Or maybe you will be able to stop taking your medication for high cholesterol or high blood pressure. List all the great things you will be able to participate or engage in if you were to defeat your enemy.
2) What am I afraid of regarding this change? Just as the early pilgrims had to be scared out of their britches about what lay ahead of them in the New World, write down all of the fears you hold regarding making this change. Here is the place to get down all those negative statements such as "I will fail...I never can succeed at this....It is too hard....I am afraid to try." Write each fear down as one sentence in a column. Opposite that one sentence of fear or anxiety, write an additional sentence down disputing or challenging that fear. For example on the left side of my page I write: "I am afraid I will fail at losing weight." Opposite this fear I would write my disputation of this fear: "I have succeeded at doing difficult things in the past and I can be successful at this as well." Write down all of your fears and the disputations as many times as you need to (perhaps pages worth), until you feel that the fears and worries are out of your head and that you have spent sufficient time providing yourself evidence of when you have succeeded in the past.
3) Create your game plan. Now that the fears are out of the way, spend some time creating your strategy for success. For instance, if your goal is to lose weight, think about some small steps you can implement to help you achieve your goal. Some suggestions might be: substitute fruits and vegetables for high fat snacks, don't eat after 8 pm, or consume two glasses of water for every soda or alcoholic beverage you drink. Get up and walk around the living room during commercials or shut off the TV altogether for one hour each night to do something good for body, mind and soul.
4) Enlist others in your pursuits. Col. Demmick wouldn't have lasted a New England minute keeping the Redcoats at bay on that sandy beach of Falmouth all by his lonesome. He needed the support of the militia to save the village. This is the month for you to enlist your own villagers and troops: Join a Weight Watchers group, enlist a family member or friend to check in with daily about your food intake, make a pact with a neighbor or friend to meet at the park for a walk or run once a week. When you make a verbal commitment to another person, it is more likely you will stick with it. It's easy to hit the snooze button and snuggle back under the covers when it's just you and the road, but it's harder to do this when you know your buddy , who is just as sleepy, is out there waiting for you.
Now you have some tips to help you in your battle against some of your negative habits. Winning a battle over something that is challenging and hard will serve to make the achievement of personal independence even more sweet and joyful. Good luck in your personal fight for liberty this month!
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In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed;
it must be achieved.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
