Starting 2010 on fire

After watching my friend Bonnie Matthews being her dynamic, energized and healthy self on national TV earlier this week (she was featured on The Dr. Oz Show), I am feeling extremely rejuvenated. Seeing her new slender, stronger body was certainly inspiring, but it was actually much more than the obvious weight transformation that struck me. It was her amazing energy. She said it herself when she exclaimed, “I feel like I’m on fire,” in response to Dr. Oz asking how she feels about her success.

Thinking about it now, I’m wondering if weight loss is just the beginning of Bonnie’s story. I think the more amazing feat is how she reclaimed her entire life. In her case, a significant weight transformation (although a lot of hard work in and of itself) is actually a by-product of tearing down her old mindset and building up a new one.

All of this has me thinking: What could I accomplish if I flipped that switch in my brain? You know the one — it’s stuck on things like, “You can’t…,” “You don’t know how…” or “You don’t really want to…” Personally, it’s a horribly frightening, yet very intriguing question that I plan to answer this year.

As someone who struggles with depression and anxiety, I often feel like I have more voices in my head than most people. Instead of trying to chase them away, I think it’s time for me to embrace them. After all, I think they’re trying to tell me something — and it’s probably really important.

But in order for me to get along with these nagging (often naysayer) voices, I need to set some ground rules. Number one is what they are allowed to say to me. Or more accurately, what I allow myself to hear. When they tell me I’m too tired to go to spinning class, I need to go anyway. When they tell me social change is a hopeless cause, I need to create change anyway. When they tell me love isn’t out there, I need to be open to it anyway.

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of my friends on Facebook sharing with the world how miserable they are. Sometimes they complain about their kids and how little sleep they get as parents. Other times, they bitch about work and the stupid people they have to deal with. And still other times, there’s just general disgust over things like how people drive, long shopping lines and bad coffee.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do my share of venting, and anyone who knows me has seen me go on various tangents. But I don’t want to do that so much anymore because, really, I think it just brings me down. And we all know life is too short for that.

I figure if I focus on the positive, take really good care of myself and stop listening to the voices of self-doubt, eventually they’ll be replaced with nicer sentiments. For instance, “Way to go!,” “Good for you!” and maybe, just maybe I’ll hear, “Sieg, you’re on fire!”