“Cheaters never prosper!”
Is that age-old saying.
If we
don’t play by the rules then we lose.
At
least, that’s what the world would have us believe.
So often we see folks cheat their way to
their goals whether professional or personal.
They take short cuts.
They
through each other under the bus.
They
break promises.
They break rules.
I’m sure we can all thing of examples of their
in our personal and professional lives.
Of course, remember that other age-old saying, “When you point a finger
three are pointing back at you.”
Bam!
There’s my truth for today.
It’s so easy to so cheaters all around us. There are so many examples, sadly. However, it’s difficult to see ourselves as
cheaters, especially cheating on the most important person we’ll ever love; ourselves. Bam!
Second hard truth of the day.
When I think about cheating on my journey I think of two
forms of it; public and private. There
is that public cheating that we announce.
“Today’s my cheat day.” “It’s so
hard to be good at work with all this food.”
“Well, it’s a special occasion so my diets on hold.” These are all excuses for our cheating we
tell those around us that take part in our very public cheating. Of course, there are always cheating allies
that bless our cheating with kind words like, “I won’t tell,” “You deserve it,”
or “You can always start back tomorrow.”
We’ve all been in one or both of these positions; the cheater and the
cheater alley.
Then there is private cheating. It’s probably the most harmful form of cheating,
because there is nobody holding us accountable.
At least, with public cheating there are those diet-allies that with
kind words bring you back. “How’s the
diet going?” “May we should have some fruit
instead.” “Let’s go for a walk instead
of having desert.” These are all ways of
bringing us back away from the cheating ledge.
The private cheating has nobody to do that, because the only one that
knows is us. Often we convince ourselves
it’s not cheating, because nobody knows.
Nobody saw us have two sodas during the work day in our office
with the door shut, eat that donut from the donut shop across the street on our
way into the office, eat a bag of chips while watching TV while everyone was
out for the evening, sit in front of the TV in our workout clothes while our
partner was out only to tell him we worked out when we didn’t, or wear very
uncomfortable undergarments that sucked things in to appear thinner. Throughout my life I’ve done these things and
others to privately cheat myself. Of
course, at the time I didn’t realize I was cheating myself. I knew I was lying or keeping secrets from
others, but I didn’t realize the story I was telling myself.
When we think of cheating we think of relationships. We pictures that poor lied to loved one
sitting home at night waiting for their partner to come home from what they
believe is a late night at the office only in reality it’s a late night with
someone else. Food has often been my
mistress or misteress in my case (as I like men). I have a long relationship with it. It’s been there when others haven’t. Its seductive grip is difficult to untangle
myself from. However, it’s necessary so
I can live in the light with the one person I need to be truthful and loyal to;
myself.
Exercise:
25 laps
swam in the pool followed by 5 power running laps in the pool
Food:
Breakfast
– Bowl of Special K Honey Cereal
Lunch –
Baked Lemon Teriyaki Chicken Breast with steamed veggies
Afternoon
snack – Strawberries and 100 calories yogurt pack
Dinner –
Greek Yogurt, Granola, Sliced Bell Pepper, and Sliced Berries or scrambled eggs
and piece of toast (final decision at game time)
Evening
Snack – Peanut Butter Frozen Greek Yogurt Bar
