The road that you are on is your journey.
This, a lesson from a Super Soul Sunday a few weeks back, keeps popping up into the internal conversation in my head all of the time.  And this week, that journey has led me back to Bob Greene in our OYou Health Week Challenge.  As I struggle through the bumps in the roadmap each day, I also struggle with the authenticity of moving through the world and this boot camp as  best that I can.  The internal voice is like an unrelenting personal trainer…who is now being silenced and balanced this morning by Bob Greene…who is telling me all you need is self-esteem. This is the answer.

In an article in Good Housekeeping, Greene says, “To change, you’ve got to feel these three words: ‘I deserve this.’ Bob reminds us that we are all emotionally hungry for something…love, acceptance, worthiness…and that understanding will move you leaps and bounds towards living your best life.   “The hard work is looking at every area of your life and making it more  fulfilling,” Greene explains, “so that food is not your only comfort. Don’t get  me wrong: Food is meant to be enjoyed. But eating is not supposed to be the main  source of joy or your main response to stress, boredom, or emptiness in your  life.”

Once you see where the hunger comes from, you will understand what you need to feed your life with.  As an emotional person by nature growing up with a southern grandmother from the land of fried chicken, biscuits and gravy for everything, food has always been comfort food in my family.  It’s what brought us together, celebrated the holiday, showed us love and cheered us at any moment.  But if you are eating to cheer up, mend a heart, feel better, have a good time or ease the pain, here is what is perfectly clear – the comfort is short-lived but the impact is long term…and usually, the self-esteem is nowhere to be found.

For years, Bob Greene has been beating the drum so to speak – “You are worthy of a better life.  You deserve this.”  What he shares is so easy and straight forward.  Nothing complicated.  It’s a three ingredient recipe:  Eat less. Move more. Be happy.  If someone told me that this was the recipe for making a million dollars and living comfortably for the rest of my life, I would be living and breathing these things 24×7. So why isn’t it that easy for living your best life?  To me, it seems like it’s all about perspective…and seeing things clearly.  Greene explains. “Every day of your life,  when you wake up, you have a choice: Am I going to build on the positive  momentum, or am I going to let negativity take over? Success comes when you say,  ‘I might mess up, but I’m going to start again and keep going.'”

Today, I’m starting again. Today, I’m making a choice. Today, I’m going after the million dollars. Bumps in the road and all…I’m still on the road to living my best life.

*Bob Greene Quotes/Sources: End Emotional Eating for Good – Good Housekeeping