Day 150 of Your year to Wellness; So What You Ate Too Much



Not me nor my daughter,
but it sure made me smile

What About The Children?

I’ve told you that I will not use this space to preach at you and today I’m working hard to remain true to that statement, but I’m about to step up on a soap box.

Yesterday, many of you hung out with friends, barbequed, or laid back and watched the entire series of No Kitchen Required. (Okay, maybe that was just me.)

You ate and snacked throughout the long weekend telling yourself that you deserved it and now you feel bloated, guilty and have decided to put yourself down.

Well, now it’s time for my soapbox; stop it with the poor pitiful me routine. I actually did well at the gatherings and snack-ins. I did not stray from eating right or from giving my body what it needed, but because I spent a day doing almost nothing (I did my laundry and worked on my book,) I felt like I was somehow cheating on life.

 The moment I started to berate myself for my “laziness” an amazing thing happened and I hope you get this connection; the moment I decided to feel like I should be doing more, my daughter came in to my room and asked me to braid her hair. Like me, she has worn dreadlocks for most of her life and has not had a need for a comb. So when I saw the little comb in her hand and heard her request, I knew that it was an opportunity for me to get up and live.

Those of us who are hard on ourselves have a tendency to be too hard. We get upset about what we have not done and should have done better. I am here to tell you that you have the opportunity to pass on your hopes, wishes and dreams to a young person who needs even more attention than you do.

Stop worrying and whining about how you look, feel, or what you don’t have and recognize that whatever condition you are in, there are young folks who are just starting out on the path that we have already been on. They need direction and guidance.

As I braided my daughter’s hair, I recalled that my mother had little time to do the same for me and my sisters. I don’t even know if she could braid. She gave me what she had and was able to give and I have the opportunity to add to what she knew for the generation that follows.

My daughter and I laughed about life and the time I gave her and her siblings matching dashikis. (What was I thinking?) We talked about her love of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I told her about the first time I was taken to see it with college friends who dressed the parts. She told me that she discovered how cool I was when she found and re-watched movies she didn’t get when she was younger.

 My daughter's hair is really short, so I told her the braids will come out. She smile and said “That’s good, because we can do this again.”

I know that this is a wellness blog and many of you joined in because you want to lose weight; well I want you to put aside all of the weight and worry that has slowed you down.

Today, find a young person who has been asking for advice and give them some. Share what you know and are learning. Instead of talking about how full and miserable you feel, talk about how full your life is.

I love you and am so grateful that you are willing to pay attention to this “little” sermon.

Be you, be well, be a teacher.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

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