New Year's ReSOULutions

Have you heard the news? Excess weight has become a national health crisis based on a recent report that measured a twenty-six percent jump in the number of overweight or obese Canadians. Well, based on this I can join the ranks and declare, "I AM CANADIAN!" (Although my excess weight has nothing to do with a fondness for Molson's beer.)

This news story comes hard on the heels of millions of New Years Resolutions made by these same Canadians that likely run along the lines of "In 2010 I will lose weight, exercise more and eat healthy food." How do I know this? I am one of the 46% of the population that has made a resolution.

So many of set out in the first few days of a New Year filled with hope and possibility. We want to make our lives better in the coming year by improving our relationship, finances or health. Health seems to top the list of resolutions based the surge of new members in gyms and commercial weight loss programs along with the number of smoking cessation aids that fill drug store shelves.

We are predictable in our resolutions - and in our failures. According to Wikipedia, only twelve percent of people who make a New Year's Resolution achieve their goals. Does that mean the rest of us are losers? Do we lack the will power to achieve our goals? Are we undeserving of success?

Of course not! What we lack is information about how to create what we want. A resolution or goal is more than a wistful thought. An intention needs clarity and an action plan in order to become our manifest reality.

The seeds of our intentions require careful tending. We need to give them time and space and be willing to wait for them in the same way that we wait for a shoot to poke out of sun warmed soil. When you consider the process of growth from seed to sprout, there is a whole lot of activity underway that is out of sight. The roots develop and reach out to nourish and to anchor the developing shoot as it unfurls and patiently pushes its way to the surface. Once at the surface, a seedling needs further protection and nurturing until it grows strong enough to weather the inevitable storms. Sometimes weeds threaten to choke it out and they must be firmly removed. As a seedling becomes a plant a thoughtful pruning will help direct its energy so that it can bear beautiful fruit.

Right now, all I want to do is eat the fruit! This may have something to do with my own well worn New Year's Resolution to lose weight so that I am no longer a part of the national obesity epidemic coupled with the fact that for more years than I care to admit, I have been among the 88% who have failed to achieve this resolution. Aside from feeling hungry, I am also impatient and prone to distraction, which may have something to do with my lack of success on this front.

I know that I am a reasonably intelligent woman with access to information. I am a health professional and a life coach and yet in spite of having tons of information about the perils of being over weight I continue to struggle. I know how to set and achieve goals in other areas of my life and yet I continue to struggle with my weight. I know how to design and implement a fitness program and I am familiar with all the reasons I should be exercising and yet I struggle.

I have been dieting since I was 10 years old and I have probably lost and gained the equivalent of a baby hippopotamus over my 41 years of life. You would think I would have perfected this whole dieting thing by now but either I'm a really slow learner ... or maybe there is a missing piece to this puzzle. My money is on the missing piece.

As this year unfolds I intend to share my quest for the missing piece and how t relates to the weight loss journey I'm embarking on. Here are a couple of discoveries I have made so far that I'll explore in upcoming blog posts: how doing nothing is actually one of the best skills to develop in a weight loss journey and the discovery that weight is simply a metaphor for other things in my life.

Are you like me? Join the conversation. Let this year be the year when we join the ranks of those who have sucessfully achieved their resolutions. Let this year be the year when you move beyond the status quo and the statistics to create the life you want to live!

PS: As I spell checked this post I noticed that I repeatedly typed resoulutions ... I think that is worth noticing since our success in creating the lives we want resides in the reconnection to our soul.