Trusting Yourself.

Last week my nearest and dearest and I decided to participate in Dr Oz's 3 day cleanse.  Admittedly over the holidays we had indulged more than our fair share in the spoils of food and wine. So after much research we decided the Dr. Oz cleanse would be our best bet. "It will be easy" ; "We can TOTALLY do this"; "We will feel SO much better by doing this," we said.

On day one I felt great--I made and drank all my smoothies and was feeling more energized and clear than before--I thought to myself this is great! Upon arriving home I realized my nearest and dearest wasn't feeling as amazing--in fact he was debating quitting!  Given that he lives with epilepsy we knew going in we would be extra careful with his health. So we agreed he would continue to drink the smoothies AND eat real food.

Day 2 I woke up feeling awful, no energy, achy all over and totally exhausted.  After a 3 hour nap in the morning and barely moving off the couch (notice there was no blog post on Wednesday of last week) I realized I needed to eat before I was going to be able to see clients. So Wednesday afternoon I gave in and made myself some peanut butter toast and within a few hours I was feeling better.

I learned SO much by being on this cleanse--even more so by not finishing it.  I confess I am pretty competitive so as I lay on the couch feeling completely miserable I kept saying to myself 'you can't give up you HAVE to keep going'.  And then there was the small voice that I like to call my wise voice saying "Really, you can't quit...says who?  Why not?  What are you trying to prove?"

In the past, I would have beaten myself up for not completing the cleanse, I would have told myself I was weak and unhealthy.  Basically, I wouldn't have trusted myself. It was refreshing to hear my inner dialogue.  As soon as those old voices came up they were shut down by my wise voice saying "Wisdom is admitting when to stop"; "You learned what you wanted to learn now implement that and move on".  And I did learn A LOT I made some commitments to myself on the areas of my diet I wanted to change, less sugar and caffeine, more fruits and vegetables.

Our culture is so obsessed with winning, completion, getting it done that sometimes the lessons come in knowing when to stop.  For me this cleanse was a wonderful reminder that I can say "No, that's not for me" even if everyone else is saying, "Yes, you will LOVE it"

Where have you said no when everyone else is saying yes?  When have you not completed a plan because you knew it was the right thing for you?  How does your wise voice talk to you?