Determination to Never Give Up

Last night I was scared because I stepped on the scale and the number really scared me. It thought that I had done better this week with food. Sometimes I play mind games convincing myself that I'm doing okay with food when I'm not. But today my weight is where I thought it should be last night. I felt really bloated then so that would explain the difference. It's not so much that I'm hung up on the number on the scale but that I try to figure out where I'm at leading up to my Tuesday weigh in at TOPS. This certainly makes a case for writing down what I eat. It's amazing how easy it is to forget.

This whole issue can be such a roller coaster of emotions. It seems I go between feeling overconfidant to feeling like a hypocrite. I don't feel like I can be helpful to others with either mindset. Helping other people is so important to me. Being healthy is great but supporting other people who share my struggles makes the effort worthwhile.

There is a difference between helping and pleasing others. Real happiness comes from doing what honors God and that doesn't always make people happy. I've received this word from some annointed speakers and writers several times. Just today I heard a Joyce Meyer podcast in which she made that point.

On an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" Ray was going out of his way to please acquaintances at his wife Debra's expense. She told him that he didn't have to have everyone like him. "That's me," I thought. I always want people to like me. I really need to get over that. I'm beginning to realize that it's just not possible to accomplish. It's especially bad to try to please someone at the expense of my family and I know I have been guilty.

I know that my desire to reach others for God and make a difference in people's lives will mean that I have to lay down the desire to have everyone like me. The reality is not everyone is going to like me or be happy with me. The best thing I can do is figure out just what God wants me to do and do it. Much easier said than done. Joyce Meyer says that next to having God in your life the single most important thing a person can have is the determination to not give up. She says it is even better than being smart because it will keep a person from getting stuck in life and get her across the finish line. Make up your mind that you are not going to give up and press on is what I hear Joyce saying. Sounds like great advice and I am making up my mind to not give up and to run after the things of God.