Giving Up The Scale
Our church has encouraged us to participate in Lent this year. Growing up we didn’t do Lent, I pretty much thought got it was just a Catholic thing (and I’m not Catholic) so why would I? But throughout the years I have gained more understanding into Lent. I am not a pastor nor do not have religious training, but for me Lent is the opportunity to give up something that has taken time away from God or something that will require more effort. It is a period to focus on growing closer to God through giving this ‘thing’ or item up and focusing more on what He wants in my life.
A lot of people give up different foods that probably aren’t doing great things for their body. Others give up social media, which I did last year in a way. I gave up Facebook during my kids waking hours, from 8am to 8pm. There are truly tons of things you can give up.
This year seemed hard for me. I thought about giving up sweets, but I truly wanted to do something that I felt would take a lot of prayer to get myself through. So, I am giving up my bathroom scale. To many this probably doesn’t seem like a big deal. But for me it is!
I started losing weight 3 years ago and have weighed myself everyday at least once (yes sometimes more) a day since then. It is one of the first things I do. To the point that I have been fully dressed and getting my kids breakfast and then gone upstairs gotten undressed (because I feel my clothes are adding weight) and weighed myself. Just so you know, I didn’t realize until now how crazy that sounds.
For a long time, I have told myself it wasn’t effecting me and that it was fine for me to continue behaving this way. It’s not. And I realize that. I know it is going to take me praying through this period and relying on strength from God to really get through this. It will be hard, but hopefully it will break me of this crazy weigh-in mentality.
So maybe this is a good time of year to look at things that you may not see as unhealthy behavior now, but truly are. Even if you aren’t a Christian, you can give up things to see how it affects your life by giving them up. Maybe you are a caffeine addict or a smoker…or just need to quit reading so many blogs (not Anchor Drop, of course!)? What ever it is, take the time to look at what you really are letting control you. It is powerful knowing you are the only one that can change that.