"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate."
Katharine Hepburn
I’m celebrating today. One year ago today, January 11,
2021, I made a Life Resolution. Not a New Year’s Resolution. A Life Resolution.
I haven’t made very many of those.
I gave up chocolate. Lest you think I’m being funny, let me
explain. I’m addicted to chocolate, sweets, treats and everything associated
with snacks. I have been addicted to chocolate for my entire life.
Yes, being addicted to chocolate is real. There was no “I’ll
just have one.” I ate as much as I wanted all the time. I was even so dumb as to
say “If I can’t eat chocolate there’s no reason to live.” I really did. I just
was not going to give up chocolate.
It comforted me when I was sad; celebrated me when I was happy, and was my source to go to for a very long time.
About 20 years ago my body started telling me it didn’t like
chocolate anymore. But I refused to stop. I’ve put up with the results of that
refusal for 20 years, but on January 11,
2021, I finally had enough. I didn’t want to deal with the results anymore.
Was I successful? Ninety percent of the time! I call that success!
The other 10 percent of the time I’d eat a treat at a party, or occasionally
when we were out. Whenever I do treat myself to a dessert my body wastes no
time in telling me to stop.
How did I do it? Determination. Willpower. Prayer. Enjoying
my body feeling better. Experiencing less depression and more energy. Eating
chocolate was bad for me.
I can only remember making a Life’s Resolution one other
time. That’s when I gave my heart to God and chose Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
I chose a better life to live, one of fulfillment and joy. And that's a life resolution I advise for everyone. Not only for fulfillment and joy, but for life itself. Surrendering to God. Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. A new life indeed!
No matter how long it takes you to give up something that is
not good for you, I’m proof that you can do it. It may have taken me a very
long time, but I finally listened to my body. I’m so glad I did!
I was terribly hooked!
Many of us have things we should not be doing. I hope you
are inspired by my experience and will choose to live better. Whether it’s a
habit that isn’t good for you, or the life changing choice to become a child in the family of
God.
I refused to give up a delight even though it caused
problems in my body. Not worth living without chocolate? Well, I can honestly say: It's definitely worth living without chocolate!
What can't you give up? For whatever reason you hang onto, it's just not worth keeping it if it is not good for you.
We can certainly be dumb about certain things. Addiction is
a hard thing to overcome. But I finally had enough.
My title “Minister of Chocolate” from my working days will just have to go down in history. My home is now chocolate
proof so Carol doesn’t eat it.
It’s never too late to make a change for the good. And
you’re never too old to change!
So please celebrate with me! And if you have something you need to deal with, be encouraged, that, yes, an old dog can learn new tricks. Just look at me.
It is with some ambivalence that I write this comment. From November 1960 thru June 1967, my room, board and schooling were all provided me by the Milton Hershey School in Hershey Pennsylvania. To this day, the standard size chocolate bars carry a notation on each that tells the buyer that they have not only purchased the best chocolate around (sorry but I am WAY biased when it comes to this) but they are also supporting the preparation of young lives through the Milton Hershey School.
ReplyDeleteSo, you can see my dilemma can't you? I must congratulate you on your victory over choco-addiction but, at the same time, I'm hoping that everyone else doesn't decide to go cold turkey as well! ;-)