Acknowledging, conquering, overcoming, disarming resistance has been the topic in several of my blogs.  Resistance keeps us stuck, holds us hostage and prevents us from experiencing more of life as well as more of ourselves.  That’s the bad resistance.

Let’s talk about another “r” word – restraint.  Restraint is something I could use a bit more of!  Perhaps I mistakenly stood in the resistance line twice and missed the restraint line!  Take lip stick.  It’s tough for me to restrain myself from buying a new lipstick when the color seems just perfect.  How many tubes of lipstick have I tossed over the years?  You’d think I’d learn!

Purple, anything purple is another challenge for me.  I love purple!  When an image consultant mentioned ever so delicately that purple was not my best color, I was shocked. There was a considerable amount of purple in my closet!  Not one to give in without a whimper, I asked why.  Her answer – “purple draws attention to the bluish skin tone under my eyes”.  Okay, vanity trumps my love of purple.

I won’t go into chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls right out of the oven or the tantalizing aroma of popcorn.

Here’s the lesson.  Restraint is like a muscle  – it needs exercise to become and remain strong.  Without the proper exercise, atrophy wins.  When atrophy sets in, I lose .  One of my goals for 2013 is to strengthen my restraint muscle.  How am I going to do that?  By asking myself a question – just one simple question.  If I indulge right now in (fill in the blank), how will I feel about myself in 1 hour?

It’s that simple – simple yes, easy no.  Effective?  Absolutely.  What muscle are you ready to strengthen?

It’s a New Year and a New You!