When Starting Over May Not Be The Answer

“Starting over! I really don’t like that phrase because it makes me feel like a failure.”

My friend’s lament as she chronicled the myriad life circumstances that derailed her healthy diet and exercise routines immediately resonated.

I have been a Weight Watchers (WW) Lifetime Member for 21 years. Not all of those years have found me maintaining my goal weight and I’ve “started over.” At one point, I changed my goal weight. What was realistic when I was 35 became less so as I crowded in on 50.  Despite doing all the right things with food and exercise, I could not maintain that original weight goal without egregious crankiness. So I extended a little mercy to myself and increased the number that was acceptable on the scale.

This past June, however, I was far over that revised goal. Now that the entire program is online, it keeps a record of your history. Each time I started over, I had the history of past weigh-ins right in front of me. I could see the graph trend line gradually going up – mocking my lack of discipline, highlighting my failure.

I knew exactly how my friend felt. You probably do to.

Your “starting over” might not be about diet or fitness. It might be an unfinished college degree program or the need to change careers. Maybe your life circumstances find yourself newly single after a divorce. Maybe, today, it’s as simple as wanting to not meltdown when your toddler makes you late – again. Whatever it is, starting over implies we have tried it before but didn’t finish. Or, we failed.

Starting over has baggage and anchors us to our past.

Maybe stating over isn’t the answer… Read More Here

I am honored to be featured on Inspiration.org today as we discover the difference between starting over and beginning, being anchored by our past and throwing off what hinders us. Hope to see you there.