Week 29, Monday, Diet with Dianna

I'm down only half a pound, but that is good. I'm on the slow boat to China but at least I'm headed in the right direction. The holidays are tough with all the food, candy, commercials, and stores shoving food in front of our faces. Just about everywhere we go and look we are inundated with sugary foods and HIGH calorie foods! I remember when I used to indulge and think nothing of the calories or my waistline. Now it is in the forefront of my mind, where I thoughtfully positioned it. I'm using my past as a warning to my future. I'm looking ahead but I remember how I used to feel and look.

Philippians 3:13-15 (NKJV)
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

Our memories can be used for good or for evil. If you use your past as a source of instruction and lessons learned, then it's worth remembering. However, if all you do is relieve and drudge up your past mistakes and punish yourself for your failures, you're only wasting your time. Rehashing past failures can paralyze you in fear of making more mistakes, which, of course, just makes the feeling worse and practically guarantees future disappointments and failures. 

If we take heed of our mistakes and don't let them be an anchor to progress then past failures are the stepping stones to a better future. Let the past remain a history lesson, but not the driving force that hinders your forward momentum. When reporters are hounding the winning team's coach or athlete for comments, amazingly, they have the shortest recollection of their mistakes and failures. Instead of dwelling on a missed touchdown or a flawed three point shot, they concentrate on improving their technique and getting it right the next time. It's as if their failure never happened. They've use it as a springboard to their future successes. They don't become disabled from trying again. 

If you mess up, so what! Even if you really blew it in epic proportions, all you need to do is to stop focusing on the past and use the mistakes or failures to work in your favor. Let this be valuable lessons and your future will be successful! 

Luke 12:22 - 34 (NKJV) Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.  “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.