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We are not starting out this new year looking to drop pounds and dress sizes or simply start a new exercise routine. We are looking to go much deeper than that, to a place where we can dig into the fertile soil of our soul, a place where there are ideas and experiences and adventures trying to poke through the surface and blossom into the life we deserve, the life we’ve been dreaming of. Stop counting calories and counting steps and counting sheep and start breathing deep, sitting still, looking inward, reaching outward, living life with attention and INtention.

This journey will be about finding out who you really are and coming to terms with your true self and realizing (finally!) that you are good enough exactly as you are right now, at this very moment, whether or not you feel you need to eat healthier, exercise more, spend less time on social media, read more, pray more.

Whatever your “goal,” we want to begin from a place of acceptance, but that takes work. It doesn’t come naturally, does it? We are hard on ourselves, always seeing the cracks, the flaws, the places where we’ve failed to live up to our own expectations. That’s about to change…

Often the root of our feelings are buried way down deep inside. They’re not easy to face, and so we use other things (food, social media, alcohol, gossip, shopping, etc.) to fill the void, and, before you know it, we’ve layered another “issue” on top of whatever else we’ve go going on. We get caught in a vicious cycle, always setting ourself up for failure by making goals or resolutions that are doomed because the real work doesn’t involve a scale or heart rate monitor. It involves getting right with God and with ourselves. Exciting and daunting, but not nearly so much when we do it together!

In years past, the Cravings Tribe (you can sign up HERE) has focused on moving through my book by that name, a book that looks at food specifically and how we use it to stuff the empty places in ourselves. But this year I want to change things up, find a different approach, one that in some ways goes even deeper because we won’t be talking about body image and potato chips but instead about the person we face when we quiet all the noise and go inward. During this time of pandemic, when we can’t travel far beyond our homes, why not take the deepest and most exciting trip of all — the one that leads to your true heart center, the person you have always meant to be, the person you have always been but have hidden beneath what the world expects, demands of you.

Come along with me. Here are a few things I recommend as we start out on this journey of inner transformation (which often results in an outer transformation without us even realizing it!):

• A journal or notebook. It doesn’t have to be fancy; you can pick up a cheap spiral notebook. I’ll give more specific prompts as we move along, but know that there is one thing I consider a requirement: Every day write down three things for which you are grateful. If you’d like, you can get a notebook just for this and keep a separate journal for writing. That’s what I do. More on gratitude journaling to come.

• A sacred space in your home. You don’t need a room devoted to meditation and journaling; all you need is a corner, a chair, a shelf. Find some little space where you can go each day to read, reflect, journal, sit in silence, and add a few things that bring a sense of the divine to the mix. It could be a cross or statue of a saint, or it could be things like seashells and feathers, pine cones and rocks. My sacred space happens to have a combination of both.

• A willingness to sit in silence for at least 5 minutes a day, preferably 10, because, really, what major goal have you ever accomplished in only 5 minutes. Go to your sacred space and turn off your phone, the TV or anything else that might distract you. If you’d like, set a timer so you’re not continually checking a clock to see how much longer you have to go. We’ll talk more about this practice in the weeks ahead.

• A spot where you can either see or be in nature. Do you have a chair by a window where you can see birds or squirrels? Do you have a path nearby or a quiet street where you can take short walks (or long walks if that’s your thing)? Nature has a way to heal us, connect us, make us kinder. More to come on that too…

• If you’re an artsy or visual person, consider saving up some old magazines, cards, or other images that speak to you for a spiritual collage down the road. Another favorite activity of mine. In fact, I have an entire journal dedicated to my spiritual collages. I love looking back and seeing the words and images that spoke to me at different times. I’ll do a whole post on this as we move through the weeks ahead.

So, essentially, all you need for this revolution is a spiral notebook. The rest you can cull from whatever you’ve got around you. Not bad. No meal plans to order, no expensive monthly subscriptions to sustain. In some ways, it’s easier to do those things. Those things convince us if only we can eat a certain number of calories or walk a certain number of steps, life will be better, happier. The harder work is to go at this without the crutch of diet plans and expensive workout clothes. It’s exciting, and I hope you’ll join me here on the blog. I won’t be posting every day. I hope to post at least once a week with some prompts and encouragement, links and suggestions. I also hope to supplement this with some podcasts.

Just remember that you are loved and beautiful and good enough just as you are. Join me on a journey to discover the you you’ve forgotten.

Love, peace and blessings
Mary

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Mindfulness. Ahhhh…just saying the word makes my shoulders relax and my breathing expand. I love it because I know it works, BUT, that doesn’t mean I always make the time and space for it. I am the queen of multitasking, something I used to think was a good thing. Not so. Multitasking distracts us and makes us feel like we’re doing so much but, really, we are usually half doing a couple of things. I can’t listen to my daughter and scroll through Facebook. I might think I can do that, but she’s going to notice I’m not really there, even if I don’t. I can’t eat dinner and answer emails. Well, I can, but chances are I’ll finish the meal without ever really tasting it.

Multitasking is one of the biggest enemies of inner peace. It robs us of our balance and tricks us into thinking it’s the way to get more done or be more productive and prove we’re working hard enough to whomever it is we think we need to prove something — bosses, coworkers, friends, partner, parents, children, maybe even complete strangers. If we let our worth hang on other people’s opinions, we’re going to make ourselves crazy trying to be everything to everyone. So the challenge is to stop worrying about other people’s opinions and start paying attention to the still, small voice trying to be heard in the silence of your heart. To do that, you have to be mindful and prayerful and quiet. That’s the starting point. And the end point. And every point in between. Mindfulness always, or as often as possible. Just keep coming back to where you are right now without worrying about what’s coming next. It’s not easy to do, especially when many of us have jobs and home lives that keep us in full-time stress mode. Just keep starting over. Eventually it will become comfortable, maybe even “normal.”

If you can’t figure out how to make this mindfulness thing work in daily life, start small. With a cup of tea or a piece of chocolate or a quiet lunch eaten alone without distractions. We’re seven weeks in, so I know you know the drill, but in case you want a reminder, I’ll re-post the mealtime meditation bookmarks. Click HERE for the set of two bookmarks. And, if you missed this the first time around, here’s one of my previous blog posts on the topic: Mindfulness: It’s not just for Buddhists.

Keep in mind that mindfulness isn’t limited to mealtime, to be sure. Try it out when you’re driving to work, when you’re waiting in the car line outside school, when you’re on hold with customer service. Breathe, be present in that moment, and just do that one thing you need to do, not the 12 things everyone else wants you do to. Breathe. Exhale…

Here’s some musical inspiration to go with our theme of the week: “Exhale” by Plumb.

Oh God We breathe in your grace
We breathe in your grace
And exhale
Oh God we do not exist for us
But to share Your grace and love
And exhale

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What does a balanced life look like to you? When I hear the word “balance,” I feel the word “peace.” In my mind’s eye, the two are inextricably linked. And on some deep interior level, I know that if I can just find a way to bring some balance into my life, peace is sure to follow. But balance is hard to come by in our all-or-nothing world, and so we have to strive to be counter cultural, to look for ways to even out the highs and lows we typically traverse, to learn to be present wherever we are, even when where we are isn’t so hot, and to find beauty there.

As we delve into chapter 6, it’s time to take a closer look at ways to bring more balance to our lives. What makes you feel UNbalanced? Is it an overbooked schedule? A kitchen counter piled with clutter? The laundry overflowing the hamper? A work project looming in front of you? Where can you begin to make a dent and tip the scales back in your favor? I think that starts with recognizing that our lives will always seesaw back and forth in major and minor ways. The balance will be found somewhere in the middle of it. Balance doesn’t mean evening out every problem and glitch, but creating an interior space that allows us to stay centered even when things are tilting to one side. Prayer — as always — is key.

For the past few months, I’ve been committed to a fairly regular meditation schedule, missing only the occasional morning here and here. I can feel the difference. Even though these past few weeks in particular were crazy busy, I moved through them on a pretty even keel.  The rough edges of my psyche seem a little smoother. The things that typically grate and gnaw lost some of their sting. Balance. All of the outward situations are the same — same job, same stresses, same family commitments, same everything. Only one thing has changed: my willingness to sit down in silence for 15 minutes at the start of every day and listen for the Spirit. That one thing is making all the difference. Can I stick with it? Sure. Will I stick with it? It’s anybody’s guess. We don’t always do what’s good for us. But I crave balance, and I can see how the silence creates balance which creates peace, or at least peace of mind. During Lent, I’m trying to add in some silence before bed as well, although that’s been more of a challenge for me. I will begin again this week.

Where are you finding balance these days? What’s working for you? What’s not working at all? Share in the comment section and let us know how you’re doing.

This week, when you’re looking for a practical way to help make the Cravings changes more concrete, find just one thing you can do to foster balance. It could be silent prayer, or it could be a good old-fashioned closet cleaning session. Trust me, clearing out the garbage in your closet or drawers or desk will go a long way toward clearing out the garbage you hold inside. Open things up, clear a space — literally and figuratively — and watch how things begin to balance out.

I will TRY to be back tomorrow with a Chapter 7 post in order to get us back on track. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Thanks for being my tribe!

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Cravings is about finding middle ground. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition, where you have to forego favorite foods forever, or starve yourself until a headache sets in. That’s not a long-term prescription for health or happiness. But there is wisdom in the practice of fasting, and the Church gives us a beautiful template for learning how to live a balanced life. Throughout the Church year, there are seasons to fast and to feast, and there is “Ordinary Time,” when we are likely to be walking that middle way.

Whenever Lent rolls around, I suddenly find willpower I don’t have any other time of year. Why is that? Because when I combine a sacrifice — eating in between meals or sweets — with prayer and a deeper, more significant intention, I am able to hold myself to things I’d otherwise shrug off at the first sign of chocolate cake in the office kitchen or a bowl of gelato after dinner. Fasting without prayer is just a diet. Fasting or abstaining with prayer, however, elevates it to something completely different.

From Chapter 5:

The emptiness fasting creates will make us more aware of the injustices in the world and of our own comforts and supposed “needs.” Think of how often we say, “I’m starving.” Or, “I need” a cup of coffee, piece of chocolate, glass of wine, handful of nuts. Fasting helps us begin to distinguish between wants and needs, even when practiced in the most minimal ways.

Can you experiment with fasting or abstaining in some way this week — either giving up something for the entire week or for one day, depending on your age, health and ability? You don’t even have to fast from food. You could fast from Facebook or shopping or TV. Intentionally give something up and offer up the sacrifice for someone else.

A reflection from the end of Chapter 5:

So much of life

is out of balance today.

Too much, too little,

too caught up in the whirlwind.

The world insists we need

more, more, more, more,

pushing us to grab all we can.

But wait. Slow down. Stop.

There is another way.

Only by emptying ourselves out

before God will we find

fullness within ourselves.

HERE’s the link to a story I did on fasting for OSV Newsweekly a while back, in case you’re interested in more on this topic as we prepare for Lent.

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To be honest, the winter months don’t work in our favor on this front. I know here in upstate New York the cold, gray days make me less likely to stop at the store on the way home to pick up fresh produce and other ingredients I need to whip up something healthy. On cold winter nights, I’m much more likely to serve up a big bowl of pasta or order in a pizza. So we have to find ways to make it easier to do what’s good for us. Can you use your lunch hour to run out and grab some healthy ingredients for dinner rather than eating at your desk? Can you make a couple of meals ahead of time on the weekend, so you have something ready to go on a busy weeknight? Can you look at your schedule and plan a menu that will be realistic when all those events marked on your calendar roll around? I know I’m a great one for planning a healthy menu filled with lots of fresh veggies and unusual grains, but, come midweek, I can be found digging around in our basement freezer and pantry, hoping to find a bag of frozen string beans and a box of rice pilaf instead. Best laid plans…

This week, take some time to look at your calendar and your fridge and put together some meals that are fresh and healthy but not so hard to make that you’ll give up before you get started. Look for nights when you’ll have time to eat in peace and at a nice slow pace. Make the cooking itself part of your mindful practice. And never underestimate the power of simple foods — a side of fresh steamed broccoli with a squeeze of lemon, a plate of roasted carrots and cauliflower, a bowl of brown rice or a plate of salad piled high with healthy toppings. What’s your favorite healthy food?

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It was a SUPER stressful week, especially the weekend. To be completely honest with you, I’m in a terrible place right now, mentally and spiritually. Things have not gone as planned. Famous last words. So why does that still catch me by surprise and throw me off course? That’s the million-dollar question for me. And I’ll tell you right now, when things don’t go well and when things get stressful, I turn up the heat on myself. I pull out my worst “tape,” push my internal “play” button and let it rip. It’s not pretty or healthy, and it certainly doesn’t take me where I want or need to go, but it’s comfortable and familiar, the road most travelled, and so I take it. Even when I know I’ll regret it later, even when I know it’s likely to lead me to other unhealthy decisions — like eating the wrong food or staying up too late or skipping prayer time. This is why I’m head cheerleader for the tribe, because I have endless experience with this struggle. I’ll tell you this, however: Although I often feel history repeating itself in my life, the time I’ve spent working on my habits, journaling, and becoming more mindful have made me more aware. Even when I’m not following the Cravings “rules,” I’m well aware of where things have gone off track and how I might pull it back. The trick is getting from awareness to action.

This week, as we delve into chapter 3, we’re going to be focusing a lot on those tapes we tend to play, the words we say in our head, or maybe even out loud as we stand before the mirror. I always say that if I loved my neighbor as myself, it would be very bad news for my neighbor! I say things to myself, about myself that I would never say to or about anyone I cared about, or even about a total stranger. Why do we do that? Why is that comfortable? And how can we begin to backtrack to the place where those thoughts were created so we can dig them up, toss them out once and for all, and replace them with something that will lift us up rather than tear us down?

In chapter 3, I talk about the two sides of this, the fact that sometimes I am ever-so-grateful for my physical health, my material comfort, and the many blessings I have had over the course of a very privileged lifetime, one not without traumatic and devastating losses and crises, to be sure, but overwhelmingly blessed. And then there is the shadow side, the times when I look at myself, not just physically but on every level, and see nothing, absolute failure, zero, worthlessness. Unfortunately, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the shadow side, where my faults and flaws are magnified as in a fun house mirror and any potential reminders of anything good are drowned out by the drumbeat of self-loathing. It’s not pleasant, that’s for sure, but since I was a little girl, it’s been home for me, the place with which I am most familiar, the persona that feels most comfortable: failure, reject, misfit, lost soul. And that’s where I am today.  I say all of this in hopes that anyone else out there in this tribe (or lurking anonymously around the fringes) who has ever felt like this will feel less alone. We all have shadow sides; some of us just mask them better or are more adept at shifting the perspective from half-empty to half-full. What is your perspective today? Are you being unnecessarily hard on yourself for one reason or another? Are you working through the exercises and feeling positive progress? I hope it’s the latter, but don’t be dismayed if it’s not.

From chapter 3:

“It comes down to reprogramming ourselves, in a sense. We have to find a way to erase the negative tape that’s on continuous loop in our heads and replace it with something more positive, more realistic, more truthful. If we don’t change the mantra of self-loathing, our feelings of inadequacy will continue to lead us deeper into bad diet plans, dangerous eating disorders, and a warped perspective that colors not just our eating habits but every aspect of our lives.”

So how do we do that? If I wrote the book on it and still struggle with it, can we ever really change the tape? Yes. But it takes daily work. If you started jogging and worked up to a 5K run and then stopped your training, do you think you’d be able to do that same 5K three years later with no renewed training? Not likely, or, if you did, you’d probably be hobbling along by the end. This is about incremental but daily, constant awareness and transformation. I’ll give you a critical starting point: gratitude. Counting our blessings daily — even the little things that seem silly but make us happy — makes a difference in our perspective on life. When we don’t actively give thanks for the good in our lives, we tend to train our eyes on the bad.

More from chapter 3:

“Our focus on the seeming lack in our lives seeps into our relationships at home and at work, our commitment to our community and our larger world, and our devotion to our prayer lives and journeys toward God. It’s hard to move forward if we are glued to an image or a number. We imagine we’ll take the next step once we reach a certain weight or size, but we keep getting stuck, or at the other end, moving the goal posts. The result is a constant unhappiness and unrest that prevents us from becoming who we are called to be: disciples willing to trust, risk, grow, and love.”

So, gratitude…Have you ever used a gratitude journal? If not, give it a try. Each day write down three things you were grateful for that day. It can be something monumental, like getting a new job, but it can also be something simple and sweet, like having your cat sit on your lap as you relax before a roaring fire or the smell of coffee brewing on a quiet weekend morning. If you’d like to read more about gratitude, click HERE for a feature story I wrote on this topic for OSV Newsweekly a while back.

Also, if you’re not on social media, click HERE for a post I shared during the week about allowing yourself to thoroughly enjoy one of your “forbidden foods,” eating with attention and intention.

And HERE is one of my previous Life Lines columns on discovering our true self, in case that’s something you’d like to explore further.

The song I’d like to give you for this week has no video to go along with it yet, but I’ll post it just the same: Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken by P!NK, one of my all-time favorite artists.

https://youtu.be/rW7mBs8_9SU

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Things were not as peaceful or as mindful as I would have hoped. Home life was crazy; work was crazier. And sometimes I am my own worst enemy, making things more difficult than they need to be by getting in my own way. I plan to go for a walk but I haven’t taken the time to get out my winter boots and hat, so before I can go anywhere I have to dig through boxes in the basement and through baskets in the hall closet. By the time I was ready to leave I was frustrated and about ready to quit. I get up early to do some yoga, but struggle to get the Apple TV going because I never commit the dreaded remote-control routine to memory. I pack breakfast and lunch to take to the office but race through work at such a frantic pace that I forget to stop for breakfast at all.

This past week I definitely feel like I had a few take-aways:

• Spend more time prepping things so taking a walk, doing yoga, sitting down to meditation, packing lunch does not become an ordeal.
• Get to bed earlier so I’m not tempted to hit the snooze button when I should be getting up to pray or exercise or sit in silence.
• Continue with my new routine of listening to some select books on CD as I drive to and from work. It’s definitely making a difference and giving me an extra dose of daily peace along with a good kick in the spiritual pants.
• Accept that my life is simply going to be chaotic much of the time. With three busy kids, a very busy job, freelance writing, lots of chores around the house, the reality is that my daily life is often going to be noisy and not-so-mindful, and that’s okay. The goal is not to make my life silent so I can be mindful but to make myself mindful so I can maneuver my way through the daily minefield. It’s all in my perspective. The journal writing, spiritual reading, and silent time is helping me remember that.

Now we begin week two, Chapter 2 of Cravings: Dieting Delusion: Food Is Not the Enemy. As we move through this chapter, stop to think about the diets you’ve tried over the course of your lifetime. I’m sitting here shaking my head as I write this just thinking about some of the crazy plans I’ve tried over the years. In the end, none of them really worked. Why? Because those were just temporary patches, surface changes not meant to last, and everything hinged on the almighty scale. Sometimes it still does. Which is why I’m here, and maybe why you’re here.

From Chapter 2:

Even today, the control myth can take hold of me. I can feel totally confident and positive about myself and my life if my clothes fit a little bit loose and the scale shows me the right number. A few pounds in the wrong direction an my mood, my day, my life can take on the aura of unhappiness and dissatisfaction, not only with my looks but with just about everything. And that’s the crux of what we’re dealing with here. Whether we have to lose a hundred pounds or ten pounds, our self-worth should not — cannot — hang on a number or a diet plan. It has to be rooted in something deeper, something true, if we can ever hope to put a stop to these endless efforts to mold ourselves into someone else’s image of beauty or health or perfection. The first step toward that freedom is the acknowledgment, in the words of Alcoholics Anonymous, that only “a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

This week, as you keep your journal and take note of your moods and foods, start paying more attention to your beliefs about yourself. What is the tape that plays on endless loop in your head? Does your self-worth teeter from one extreme to another based on superficial changes or events? What are your triggers? Can you push pause when you feel things starting to head in the wrong direction?  Try to pull yourself back from the brink. Breathe, say a quick prayer, grab your journal, go for a walk, do something to shift the playing field and try a different approach. After all, the old ways haven’t been working, right?

If you have a minute, check in and let me know how you’re doing here in the comment section. If you have questions, feel free to ask them. If you don’t have Cravings and you need more information, tell me that as well. And if you just have a story to share, please do so.

And, now, here’s your musical inspiration for the week. I wanna see you be BRAVE!

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For me, this column is a perfect example of how things have had to change with time. When I first started writing about the intersection of faith and family life back in 2001, I had a preschooler and a 1-year-old. Back then, my columns focused on the joys and challenges of early parenting. But slowly, over the years, the column evolved as my life changed and my family grew and aged, addressing issues related to the tween and teenage years, scouting and dance classes, friendship and high school. Then, like a shape-shifter, it began to change again, only this time the focus moved away from family and toward broader spirituality, as my writing began to reflect my own path through the darkness and light of my faith journey. It reached a point where the column didn’t really fit into any one neat category anymore. Neither did my life, and that’s probably the case for many of us. We have to change, to let go and float along with the current rather than cling to the side for dear life. And that’s a scary thing.

This is the season for making personal resolutions, but this year I’d like to suggest that instead of choosing the typical dramatic (and often unsuccessful) method of self-improvement, we opt for evolution in all its slow-and-steady glory. What are you lugging around that no longer serves you? Maybe it’s time to shed it bit by bit. What do you need to strengthen to get where you need to be? Maybe it’s time to do the work required day by day. Where is God in that mix? Maybe it’s time to sit in silence each day and find out.

At Mass this past Sunday, the second reading from St. Paul’s first Letter to the Thessalonians was one I’ve heard a thousand times. On that particular morning, maybe because this column was swirling around in my head, one line jumped out at me as if it were brand new: “Test everything; retain what is good.” (5:21) As soon as I heard it, I wanted to shout, “Yes!” We are expected to test things, in our daily life and in our faith life, and testing means making mistakes and recalculating our route, allowing the Spirit to serve as our interior GPS and redirect us to the better path, which won’t necessarily be easy or unobstructed. Maybe some of our family and friends and fans won’t like the direction we take. We have to test nonetheless and move forward bit by bit, even if it’s one step forward and two steps back. And that’s a challenging thing.

St. Augustine, in his Confessions, wrote: “People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars…and they pass by themselves without wondering.”

Maybe this year is the time to start wondering about yourself, not in a self-indulgent way, but in a curious way. What is inside you that is undiscovered, waiting to evolve and emerge? Evolution. Our word for 2018. And that’s an exciting thing.

This column originally appeared in the January 4, 2018, issue of Catholic New York.

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During this first week of the new year, when everyone around you is making promises to themselves and others, resolve to be a beginner. That’s the only resolving we’ll be doing on this journey. Begin again. And again and again. Every day. Always. There is no shame in being a beginner. In fact, it’s the only way to grow. If you set a course and get pulled in the wrong direction, just straighten yourself out and start over. I guarantee that even when you think you’re starting from zero, you will be a few steps farther down the path than you were before. That’s how this works. With every beginning, we move a little bit closer to becoming who we truly are meant to be.

Which is what brings us to where we are today: Cravings, Chapter 1: A Deeper Hunger. What is your deeper hunger for 2018? Surely it’s more than taking off a few pounds. I’m guessing that if you’re anything like me, underneath the surface hunger for a slimmer waistline or stronger abs is a desire for inner peace, self-acceptance, and a transformation that will lead you to a place where you are not defined by the number on the scale or the size of your jeans.

As we begin our journey, some aspects may feel a little unusual since we’re talking about eating habits and diet but we’re not actually going on a diet. I’m not going to give you a list of foods you can’t eat or foods you must eat or an amount of exercise you should do. This is going to be a much deeper and interior journey than the typical kind of health plan. If you follow this path, your newly restored relationship with food will naturally bring things into balance because you won’t be stuffing or starving based on feelings of inadequacy or because of stress in your work or home life or because you’re trying to fill a void of some kind. You will be learning to move mindfully through your meals, through life, doing things with attention and INtention, which is what sets this apart from any old diet. In order to do that, we have to drop down into our heart center and make a spiritual connection.

From Chapter 1:

“When we begin to connect prayer lives to physical lives, when we look beneath the surface, we often discover just how deeply intertwined the two are and how our food issues are wound around our spiritual needs and longings. We’re not hungry for a carton of ice cream or a bag of chips. We’re hungry for acceptance — from ourselves even more than from others — for love, for fulfillment, for peace. We’re hungry for a life we think we don’t deserve or can’t have, for the person we know we can be if only we’d give ourselves the chance.

“Often it is not the fear of failure that holds us back but the fear of success. We cling to the comfortable rather than step out into the possible. So we sit at home with a container of Cookies and Cream rather than take a chance on getting our heart broken again, or we down an entire bag of chocolate-covered pretzels rather than work on that resume that might get us out of a dead-end job. Or we eat cold pasta right from the refrigerator rather than sit down in silence and listen for the whisper of the Spirit speaking to our hearts.”

Practice for the week: Rather than counting calories and fat grams, this week we’re going to try to add one spiritual practice to our daily routine. It can be five minutes of silence and deep breathing at the start of the day, or a meditative walk out in nature, or daily Mass, or a few minutes with Scripture — whatever suits your spiritual style. Do your practice daily for one week, and at week’s end, notice if there were any changes. How did it change your mood, attitude, habits, hungers, if it changed it at all? Was it hard to do? Can you keep it up, or even increase you amount of prayer time? (You’ll find some questions to prompt reflection at the end of Chapter 1, along with a meditation.)

Journaling: If you haven’t already started a journal, now is the time to begin that as well. A simple spiral notebook is fine. Again, no calorie counting. This is about noticing more than what’s on your plate. Yes, jot down what you eat, but, just as important, write down how you feel on any given day — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What’s going on in your life that might be making you scrounge around in the pantry for cookies or stare into the fridge for a magical food that will make the pain going away?

Prayer: If you’re looking for something to serve as a spiritual touchstone, spend some time with Psalm 139, which you’ll find on pages 13-14 of Chapter 1 (or in your Bible). Focus on these words:

“I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!”

Can you see yourself as wonderfully made, loved unconditionally by God? This is our starting point. And our ending point. It can be hard work to get there, but we’ll tackle it together, and share our struggles here in the comment section. I can tell you with all honesty that yesterday morning, as I faced my own backsliding, I did not feel wonderfully made. Not even close. But because I’ve made this journey before, I know what that means: It’s time to slow down, to take time for some self-care, to spend time with God, to shut out the noise of our chaotic world and recapture my balance, to become more mindful. (If you’re struggling with mindfulness over multi-tasking, you can find a post on that topic HERE. We’ll talk more on that topic in the weeks ahead.)

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Feel free to ask questions, share stories, or start discussions in the comment section, and you can always find me on Facebook as well.

Musical inspiration for the week ahead: Colours by Margo Rey

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