Fall in Love with
Your Life
small changes bring
big rewards.
by Kim Childs
Each January, the lure of a fresh new year inspires many
of us to plan healthy lifestyle changes. By February, even Honor the Body,
modest goals may fall victim to a loss of motivation or the
One Day at a Time
triumph of old habits.
Moran also stresses the importance
of “taking care of the vehicle,” when
I
f our latest resolutions are unrealistic (adding two hours of daily meditation to
designing a life makeover. This means
an overloaded life), too drastic (going from junk food to raw food in the middle
having a daily exercise and nutrition
of winter) or unsupported (vowing to think positively in a climate of naysayers),
plan.
they may be doomed before they are uttered. According to the life coaches con-
“Regardless of what you want in
sulted by Natural Awakenings, the most effective life makeovers involve starting where
life, you have to get it in this physical
we are, taking small steps, setting boundaries and reaching out for support on the
body,” she says. “And because the brain
journey. Here’s what these experts advise when setting out to make lasting changes.
is part of the body, you’re not going to
have a very good shot at changing your
An Attitude of Gratitude
attitude and thinking positive thoughts
if those thoughts have to be filtered
“The first thing is to look at what’s already working,” recommends Victoria Moran, through a brain that is living on junk
a writer, speaker and spiritual life coach. “So often, we just say ‘Ack—I want every- food and doesn’t get enough oxygen
thing to be different,’ but we all have lots of things that are working well now.” because you don’t exercise.”
Moran, author of several books, including the forthcoming Living a Charmed At the same time, Moran predicts
Life: Your Guide to Finding Magic in Every Moment and Meaning in Every Day, failure for those who plan overambi-
counsels her clients to list 10 things for which they are grateful before they leave tious diet and exercise plans that don’t
bed each morning. allow for occasional off days. The
“These don’t have to be giant things,” notes Moran, “but ‘I’m grateful for this prospect of cutting out sugar forever,
cat sleeping on my chest; grateful that the sun is shining; grateful that I made this for instance, may scare someone away
terrific pot of chili and there’s some left over.’ Your day is now going to be built on from even cutting down. Moran, who
the positive framework of all that you have going for you.” successfully overcame her own food
Moran also recommends taking quiet time in the morning for prayer, medi- and weight issues decades ago, quotes
tation or journaling before the day’s agenda begins to tug and pull. A student the 12-Step slogan of “One day at a
of comparative religions, she observes that most spiritual traditions embrace a time,” when counseling people who set
practice of going within to access higher wisdom. Tapping this inner guidance is out to change their lives.
essential to crafting an authentic life and staying centered in the midst of change. “Even I cannot say that every day
“I recommend lighting a candle on your bedside table,” Moran says, “so that when for the rest of my life I will meditate
you come back from the bathroom and your brain is already saying ‘You don’t and exercise,” she says. “I know that’s
have time for this, you have all these things to do,’ that little candle is just there, not true. But for today, I can do that,
saying, ‘Oh, come on, sit.’” and this is the only day I have.”
20 Volusia / Flagler
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