Your Word is a Lamp at my Feet, Psalm 119:105

What is at the absolute core of wellness for you? Have you ever even contemplated that question?

Is weight loss at the core of wellness? Do you think 'Well, wellness means that I have to be thin and eat healthy'?  Why are you even trying to lose weight? Is it to impress someone? Is it to unburdened your body of excess 'fat' for endurance exercise? Is it because you don't like who you are and you think that with weight loss comes love for self?  Explore the why.....trust me, it's so important.

Is it food that is at the core of your wellness? Why are you eating a healthy diet? Why aren't you eating a healthy diet? Hmmm.... what is at your 'core' - the place that you are basing your decisions off of.

I think these are great questions to ask yourself and ponder when you have time to reflect on your choices. 

The core of wellness - for me - is my faith in God.  Everything starts with God in my life and then I expand outward from His direction.  There is a Bible Verse - Psalm 119:105 - that my friend in New York first shared with me years ago and that is "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path".  I love this verse!!!!!  It basically means that God is going to provide you with the very next step you need to take that is right in front of you but His light will not necessarily show the entire journey ahead.  If you literally picture yourself holding a lamp on a really pitch black evening, you have just enough light so you don't stumble on the stair in front of you but not enough light to know if there is a turn ahead.  So you focus on your very next step and that's all you have to do - that's it.  And trust Him that He knows exactly where to lead you b/c His word will be the lamp for your next step after that and so on.

To me, this verse is the epitome of every single decision in our lives.  It's an approach that works even in wellness. 

To achieve wellness, you do not have to have it all figured out. Trust me! Just focus on today, the meal in front of you, the exercise that you will do 'today' and guard your thought life....again, just today.  And you make good decisions tomorrow and so on.  And next thing you know, you're feeling healthier - more vibrant - and you are gaining momentum in an area of wellness that really matters to you.

So, once you find your 'root' of what is fueling your decisions, you have a really solid understanding of 'self' and what is driving you.  And the rest can be an act of self love and adventure.  With my faith as my 'root', I am able to approach weight loss as a journey of self love.  And it is one.  I have lost 17 pounds thus far and for the very first time in my life, it's been relatively easy.  And no one wants to hear that but it's been one step at a time but steps taken in love for myself.  And food has been nourishment for further loving myself and my body.  The activities that I partake in are ones that I (and my body) respond w/ joy to!  And so on.  Achieving wellness doesn't have to be unattainable.  It's not to say it's without challenges but it's doable and then beyond joyful!

I think it's really critical to explore where wellness begins in your life.  Because if it is rooted in anything but something loving, you won't achieve much of well, anything at all.  Everything that we desire to flourish really needs to be rooted in love.