There is one subject that gets compared to weight-loss more than any other topic – money. It seems innocent enough. You balance your checking account, why wouldn’t calories be the same? If you are trying to lose weight, helpful friends and some “experts” might encourage you to “budget” your calories. You must know, after all, that your favorite dish is going to “cost you.” So it would be necessary to “account” for that – either through your other food choices throughout the day or by “earning” those calories through exercise. Food definitely comes with a “price” and if your goal is to lose or maintain your weight, that price is exercise.
By now I hope you know that I don’t ascribe to that belief system at all (I just happen to know it very well). But I do believe that money and weight are very connected subjects – just in a deeper way than most people realize. The underlying or internal conditions that create the external drama are similar in both subjects. And generally speaking, the underlying conditions that create the most havoc are familial and/or spiritual.
Were you brought up to believe that you must “work hard” for your money? Is money the “root of all evil” or something that only uncaring and selfish people have? Would you somehow dishonor or betray a parent or spouse if you out-earned them?
I don’t ask these questions lightly. Money isn’t a simple a matter of inflow and outflow and neither is weight-loss – there is psychological, emotional and spiritual congruency at play. This is evident in the countless stories of lottery winners who quickly revert back to their pre-win financial conditions, and the ninety-seven percent of all people who regain the weight that was lost through a diet and exercise program!
Is it “vain” to want your body to look a certain way? Would someone important to you be
“left hanging” if you became free of your weight drama? Do you have such a great life that you need a weight problem so that you won’t risk “offending” others?
And what about the political power plays? We know, historically speaking, how governments and religion have controlled the masses through financial and spiritual concerns. Would I be so bold as to suggest that the same thing could be occurring in our modern media driven culture? Weight loss is a billion dollar industry. We are fed digitally altered images that set an unrealistic standard of beauty along with a diet and exercise model that suggests we can attain this unrealistic ideal if we purchase the right product or program. We are left in a state of unrest, dissatisfaction and preoccupation. Of course we couldn’t pose any threat to the establishment!
So how do we find peace? We go within and connect with the wisdom of our deepest selves. We take actions grounded in emotional, psychological and spiritual congruency. We challenge basic assumptions and beliefs and start to ask different questions.
The questions I’d like to offer are these: What if financial abundance and an optimized body were yours by Divine right? If you were already financially abundant and had an optimized body – or knew that they were forthcoming – what would you do? What would you give up? What would you change? Who would you be?