Love Commandment 7: Embrace the Future | VLCD / TFR

In her seventh instalment of 10 New You Commandments to Love Your Body, Melissa explains why it is so important to let your past go, live in the moment and embrace your healthy and happy future with wide open arms :[article below]

Love Commandment 7: Embrace the Future

“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The future is a strange place.  It is magical and filled with accomplished dreams and happiness, but at the same time it can be a bleak world of uncertainty!

The only way to create yours to be more of the former is by embracing it fully: letting go of the past, living in your present and taking actions that serve your future self.

Let it Go

Your past has had a part in creating who you are today by challenging you and providing you with the life lessons that inform your actions in the present. However, a great many of us – myself included! – can let our past be an excuse to fail or a reason to not even try.

The amount of times I have thought to myself “I have always been a fat girl” or “I will always be fat because eating has always been my coping mechanism to get through difficult times” is phenomenal!

Now I catch myself in the act and stop playing the victim: what has gone before is in the PAST, and I am the only person that can own my actions TODAY and create the FUTURE I want.

Make a promise to yourself to do the same 🙂

Live in the Moment

When your life isn’t going the way you thought it would, or you aren’t happy with your present circumstances, it is easy to simply live in the past or dream about the future.  However, by doing this you are never really present in your own life, and you are missing out!

If you aren’t happy and running away from today instead of living it and facing the reality, then this cycle will perpetuate continually as you will never take the actions you need to change it for the better.

If you are overweight and keep looking longingly at your old, skinny jeans – or dreaming about the new ones you spotted in the shop – instead of facing your current situation head on and taking action then you will always be a size that you are unhappy with!

Don’t let the fear of going outside your comfort zone stop you from bettering yourself and your life.

Self Service

Here is an interesting fact: did you know that you think of your future self as a completely different person to who you are today?

You may think that this would not affect you at all, but it has a surprisingly large impact on what you do now to make your future brighter!

Think of it this way – would you endure being uncomfortable today or sacrifice your short term enjoyment for a complete stranger who has nothing to do with you?  Not many of us would!  So why would you put yourself through a strenuous exercise regime or begin your VLCD / TFR journey today for your future self to be at a healthy weight, if you don’t identify with him or her?

I want you to try one little trick that I still use today (I think I may have got this from the wonderful Julie-Ann herself!) to get me through challenging tasks, even though it may seem a little crazy ;-)…

Close your eyes and imagine standing beside the younger version of yourself. Smile at him or her with love and understanding, bend down and hug YOU.  Now take your younger self by the hand and walk over to meet Future You.  Imagine what this person is like: are they good looking?  Are they wealthy? Happy? At a healthy weight?  Look yourself over with approval  and make friends with Future You – give yourself a cuddle, shake your hand, whatever you would do with your best friend or loved one to show affection.

Now – don’t you want to do things today that will enable your Future You to be that healthy and happy?

The next time you are struggling with a difficult challenge, become aware of your present, stop excuses in their tracks, acknowledge and become aware and then picture Future You and do it for him or her… because sooner than you think, that will be Present You.

Love,

Melissa