Upon Reflection   
by DIANE

This past month I have been pondering the power of denial.

Two weeks ago I had a very powerful reminder of denial. 
I went to see somebody who I have not seen for a long time, Stephen is a very honest man and during our conversation he said to me “I know we all gain weight as we get older but you have gained a lot of weight, what is going on?”  I certainly appreciated his honesty as difficult as it was to hear.  It was a moment of great clarity. It made me stop and step out of my denial and do something about my weight gain other than just complain and feel like a victim of the medication.

As mentioned in my previous letter I have gained about 8kg due to the medication that I am taking for my serotonin imbalance. I suppose I kept refusing to see (denying) that I had to do something about it.  I kept telling myself (in my head, of course) that because I had not caused my weight gain by over eating or under exercising that somehow it would just miraculously disappear because it was just so unfair.

Stephen gave me the gift of stepping out of my denial and taking charge of my situation. Had I not been ready to step out of denial and face the situation truthfully I would probably had gotten angry with him.

I am now exercising daily, going to yoga twice a week and making a consistent effort to watch everything I put in my mouth. I might not loose the weight as quickly as I gained it but at least I am not sitting around bemoaning the fact and having a regular pity party.

I am now out of denial and in charge of the situation.

I suppose the point I am trying to make, is how often we sit in denial because we just don’t want to commit to facing the truth. We would then have to take action. So instead we create these stories in our head and confirm it by telling everybody and then waiting for them to agree with us.  Most times people are too polite to tell us the truth so that we can remove the blindfold that we have so carefully constructed.

The best present I can have in my life is to surround myself with people who are willing to tell me the truth and not co-facilitate my denial.

May my life and yours be blessed with angels who tell the truth in a kind and loving way.

Much love and truth
Diane

Website [ www.thelifesalon.net ]