Happiness Diet: The Introduction

Got a Video of Dr Sharp (or as he signs himself - Dr Happy) saying g'day and explaining what goes on.

I think the thing I've taken away from it is what he calls 'The Tyranny of When'. When you lose weight, then you'll be happy. When you get the right amount of money, the right car, the right job - then you'll be happy.

Now I know that is not true. I'm not that materialistic to be honest - BUT. (Don't you just love buts?) What I do know is that I hear that all around me - esp. from my Mum and other well-meaning people. If you lose weight, you'll get the relationship, and you'll be happy. If you lose weight, you'll get healthy and then you'll be happy. If you try harder, do more, get more faith, you'll be happy and spiritual and life will be perfect.

I'm realising that I have absorbed that in the way I think about myself, as much as I'd like not to - esp. in my relationship with God. If I try harder and fix myself I'll somehow be more acceptable to God. This is of course, absolute cow-dung. And I know that. So why do I keep falling into that sort of thinking?

Of course, there are things that need to be fixed - but not because they'll make me happier in some ethereal future - it's because like everything that's broken, if you want to be able to use it for the purpose that it was created for, you need to make sure it remains in good repair. It won't change anything except that it'll work. Getting my liver working won't do anything but get my liver working.

Goal setting is still a viable and useful tool - but making reasonable goals with realistic expectations of the outcomes is the way to go.

Losing weight may not make me more happy or less happy or change my life in ways that I expect. But what it will do is have me thinner, less physical exertion in movement, no rashes between my thighs, and if I do it the way that makes most sense to my health and body - I'll have lower blood sugar levels, a healthier liver.

The journey is important too.