Take the challenge!

One of the most difficult things for me to deal with this time of year is the insane amount of advertising and other media telling me it's time to lose weight. There are countless suggestions that I need to try a new diet plan, workout more.
Basically the weight loss industry is telling us we're not perfect but we would be if we'd spend money on their plan. They're counting on us to fail because that's how they make more money.
It's so hard for me to resist the temptation sometimes. A new diet plan might do just the trick. I know that I don't need a diet plan.
Everything I need is already within me.
The other day I was over at my friend's house. She'd had three people want to do a weight loss challenge with her. It's so discouraging to have people assume you want to lose weight. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't always assume others were disappointed in their body?
Anyway, my friend and I decided rather than accepting these offers to start new diets, it would be better to dedicate our energy to taking better care of ourselves -- blessing our hearts each day.
As I suggested earlier, each of us could promise not to track each other's weight loss, but to encourage each other to take care of our bodies and souls -- Do something nice for ourselves each day.
So I'm going to again challenge each of us to join this challenge -- and post your results, if you wish, in the comments window.
This morning I heard a great quote. Of course, I couldn't find a pencil to write it down soon enough but it went a little something like this:
"Wouldn't it be great if, in this country, we didn't celebrate who lost 300 pounds or who won the game, but we celebrated ideas, and art and creativity."
I'm in the process of tracking down the actual quote and source, but just think about that for a minute.
Wouldn't it be cool if we could celebrate each other's growth as a person, highlight a project completed, or art inspired?
Think about how much time we spend thinking about our weight, other people's weight and how to lose it. If we put that time same time into spending time with our loved ones or serving the community or learning a new skill -- imagine what a different world this might be.
Let's turn our attention away from the external and focus on the internal -- the things that really matter in our lives: our blessed bodies for they allow us to exist and interact, our relationships, our souls... it's up to you.