Solution Week

The weekend was a bit rough for me - moody. mini-meltdowns starting Friday afternoon, skipping Saturday and returning on Sunday morning and evening. I just felt off, prone to irritation and self pity, easily angry, and often just foul. Rocky. But I feel I am at the tail end of it. Through the worst of it, and back to a more peaceful, accepting state. For one thing, I spent much time in the past few days focusing on the problem and how pissed I was about it. I must have needed to do that in order to accept the reality of my situation and to become willing to continue to do something about it. The good new is that I have a solution and I am willing to use it.

Acceptance is the first part of my solution for today. It is essential to me in order to have any peace of mind. I identified my problem (again) and I went through the denial, anger and grief about it. Then I moved into acceptance. It is a peaceful place. When I accept people the way they are instead of focusing on what about them needs to change, then my relationships improve. If I accept myself the way I am right now, flawed as I may be but willing to work toward change, then my outlook improves. I forgive the past. The negative images fade away and optimism can move in. I can focus more on what I am doing in the here and now to solve the problem.

Time spent focusing on the problem itself and resulting consequences is useful in order to be ready to change. But once I find the solution and make a decision to use the solution, excessive time spent on thinking about the problem is a waste for me. I simply need to focus on the solution and be glad that I have one.

I have a solution to the eating problem. Daily menus that leave out the trouble foods and replace them with the foods that work. Limiting the quantity to the amount I need to sustain good health. And I have alternatives to eating in response to stress, sadness, and other feelings - meditation, journaling, exercise, spiritual activities, reading, using a support network and more. I have alternatives to eating out of boredom - stay busy with other activities - get out more, exercise, games, household projects, swimming, walking, gardening, reading, etc. and some of the same things I use to relieve stress. In fact there is so much solution I don't even have time to write it all down in this post.

I have decided this is going to be Solution Week. Each day I will write about my solution. I have had enough of writing about the problem and it's nasty consequences. And I am ready to move on.