's MOTD Fri May 19, 2006 - Perfection

[Guest guest]

's Daily MessageFridayMay 19, 2006

PERFECTION LEADS TO DEPRESSION

There where times when I was overweight that I would sit down and have a nice little talk with myself. I would say, ", enough is enough! You just can`t get any bigger and you have got to do something about your weight...now! And the only way you are going to get there is by being perfect. You have to do everything perfectly. If you do, you will see your weight drop, drop, drop!"

After that little speech to myself, I would begin to plan my weight-loss success. I wrote down exactly what I was going to eat. For breakfast, I planned to have a small glass of grapefruit juice, some cottage cheese and a piece of dry toast. For lunch, I would have plain tuna and sliced tomatos along with carrot and celery sticks. For dinner, my plan was a small salad with no dressing, a chicken breast and a small baked potato. And for a snack, some fresh fruit or Melba Toast.

Well, I would get up the next morning and feel so jazzed about the brand new day ahead of me. I`d march myself into the kitchen and prepare my perfect little breakfast. And after I finished, I`d be so proud of myself. "Hey, ! You`re doing a great job. Keep up the good work!"

For a mid-morning snack, I`d have an apple. and for lunch, I`d carefully stick to the menu I`d planned. But it wasn`t long before I would begin to feel hungry.

The angel on my left shoulder would say to me, ", you're doing wonderful!" While the devil on my right shoulder would whisper "Hey , you have been so good all day, you deserve a little treat."

Sometimes, I would listen to the devil, rush into the kitchen and inhale a few chocolate chip cookies. And as the last chocolate chip floated down my throat, I would start to feel awfully guilty, followed by depression. And then I would say to myself, "I blew it! The day is ruined. So I can eat anything I want to eat now and just start again tomorrow."

Have you been down this road before? Well, if you have, please don't go down that road again. Nobody and I mean nobody is perfect. So stop reaching for perfection or you`ll end up spending your whole life depressed. Just take it one day at a time and try to do your very best.

I'm rootin` for you!

Love,