Changes and Unexpected Impact

I’ve made some changes in my life in the last few weeks that have had some expected and some unexpected impact so I thought I’d share them with you in case it helps in any way.

The first change I made was back in the beginning of March. I decided that I was going to quit refined sugar. There wasn’t a lot of build up to this change or some major purpose. I tried quitting all sugar for about four hours and it was a disaster but then I switched to refined sugar only and it’s been a breeze. I take a break for our date nights but other than that, I’ve pretty much avoided refined sugar.

The expected impact was possibly some more energy, maybe some weight loss, but it was really cause I wanted to do it and liked the idea of eating as little processed food as possible.

What I didn’t expect was how easy it would be and even more significantly how easily it made all the foods I was struggling with not a problem for me. For example, each time I went to Starbucks to get coffee, I’d find myself picking a pastry or a cakepop and going there had become agony for me cause I found myself constantly craving the food and then feeling bad about it, etc. But I still wanted to get my coffee and felt mad at myself for not being able to control my food cravings. Interestingly, since the day I decided to quit refined sugar, none of those pastries are an option for me anymore and this hasn’t bothered me one bit. I can now go to Starbucks, get my coffee and nothing else. I don’t even mind it one bit. This has meant less bad food for me and for my boys since they were asking for food when I got some, too.

I have no idea what caused this shift but I am very grateful for it.

The other change I made was at the beginning of last week. I have been meaning to go back to daily meditation for over six months now but it keeps falling off the todo list. Out of the blue, last week, I decided I’d start waking up at 5am every weekday so I could meditate and journal while my kids were still sleeping. I think maybe this was instigated by my desire to do the Life Planner but I am not sure… either way, I decided to do it and have been sticking to it every day since. (I was already getting up at 4:40 on Wednesdays for my coaching certification calls so now I just get up at 5am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, too.)

The expected outcome was that I would meditate and journal each morning. Both of which did happen. I actually even get to finish my daily running before the kids wake up, too.

The unexpected outcome was how much calmer and happier this makes my morning. By the time 6:30 rolls around, I have already meditated, journaled, exercised and showered. I am calm and awake and patient. The breakfast is ready. If my kids aren’t awake, I lovingly kiss them and feel the spaciousness of having time to get them ready for school. It’s been so seamless that I now have 45 mins after they wake up to do my daily sketching, too. This means my sketching gets done before I drop the kids off so when I come back home, I can start work right away. It’s made my whole week go more smoothly. I’m still amazed by the effect it’s had on my life.

So here we are. Sometimes one shift causes other, unexpected ones. So if there’s some change calling to you, I say take the step today; maybe you’ll be surprised by the unexpected impact like I’ve been.