A couple of Healthy Reflections from SparkPeople

I just love LOVE SparkPeople.com. It's such a great site to help get support to lose weight and get tips to live a healthy lifestyle. They send out daily emails of all different types and I love reading the Healthy Reflections. Here are a couple from the past week that I enjoyed.
5/8
Is your worrying holding you back?

Once film negatives are exposed to the light of day, they're ruined. In the same way, once you see your worries for what they are--self-inflicted doubts--their power disappears. If you give your doubts and fears too much development time, they'll take hold and start to color all of your thinking in a negative light. Pessimists have more health problems, are less productive, and are generally unhappier than optimists. People that don't worry as much spend more time coping with the realities of life and less time occupied with would-be problems. To get rid of worry, think more confidently. Know that you can handle anything that comes along. Know that with loss comes opportunity. Know that things generally have a way of working out. Stay out of that dark room and picture something better.
Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.

- Church billboard in Colorado
 
5/15
How do you keep everything in perspective?
The present is what slips by us while we're pondering the past and worrying about the future.

- Ziggy, cartoon foible

Is there anything that Ziggy doesn't know? In the cartooning universe, he's often placed in hopeless situations, pitted against a world that doesn't make sense. He's an agreeable punch line for the quirks of human nature. Yet he's able to brush off his mishaps and focus on the opportunities that today brings. He can also look to the future with hope, knowing full well that more struggles may lie ahead. Most of all, he can look at himself and have a good chuckle. Do you make yourself anxious about things that might happen or stew over mistakes you've made? Don't let a preoccupation with tomorrow or yesterday rob your ability to face that crazy world with a smile. For Ziggy, today is today. It's not a good day; it's not a bad day. It's a day. And he knows that it's important to give that day the value it deserves.


5/14
Gaining the energy to face the day

Every day you have the choice to be a hero or to take the easy way out. Sounds like an easy decision. After all, who wants to let their goals down? The thing is, courage takes energy. To step up to the plate, you first need the strength to carry the bat. Sleep has far reaching effects on your mood and outlook, in ways you may not even realize. Success starts with a belief that it can happen. Sleep debt can kill that optimism faster than an iceberg can sink a ship. It can also make you more vulnerable to the low-down blues that ruin productivity. Most of all, sleep debt crashes your energy level into a wall. Who feels like staring down a challenge when you can't even keep your eyes open?
A light supper, a good night's sleep and a fine morning have often made a hero of the same man, who, by indigestion, a restless night and a rainy morning would have proved a coward.

- Lord Chesterfield, diplomat
5/16
Overcoming obstacles one at a time

Your goals may not come easy. There is no accomplishment without work, and no "win" without something to beat. It's easy to get discouraged when roadblocks appear--in fact, it's only natural. You've invested time and emotion into creating the perfect plan, and then something has to come along and muck it all up. Sometimes, though, all you have to do to beat that barrier is to get back up and move forward again. Obstacles are like the Wizard behind the curtain--they're a lot less intimidating once you see them up close. Next time you take a step back, don't let guilt pile it on top of your previous "stumbles." Just take two steps forward and you're still farther along than you were before. It doesn't matter how many walls you face. You only have to get the better of that last one.
Fall seven times. Stand up eight.

- Japanese Proverb