Restructuring My Head

Change your thoughts and you change your world. -Norman Vincent Peale

Yesterday I saw the counselor in charge of my prescreening exam for the gastric bypass surgery. I really liked her, and left her office encouraged. While she gave me the thumbs up for the surgery, she also gave me some advice. Some of the advice I already knew, but I have not been applying it to myself. I mentioned how difficult it is going to be for me to give up my southern sweet tea (it's like crack), and she stopped me almost mid-sentence. "If you tell yourself that, it will be hard, but you can convince yourself this is no big thing." I remember when Dr. Phil first came on the scene, and he talked about having tapes running in your head. The idea made sense to me. If you are constantly telling yourself you are worthless, you will believe it. So if I keep running this tape in my head that says, "Giving up ____ will be hard," then it will be. But if I keep telling myself that the item is just a thing I can take or leave, I will have control over the thing instead of the thing having control over me. Isn't this kind of what faith is about? God says believe, and it shall be. Mind you, that is not a direct quote, but you know what I mean. God tells us to ask for what we want and have faith. He doesn't say ask for what you want and then think about how it won't really happen. God is a wonderful, loving Father who wants to share His gifts with us. So I need to change the tapes in my head and put my faith in God.