Think positively...

My favorite cartoon character is Eyeore. (I'm not sure if I spelled that right.) Eyeore is sullen, glum, and low-energy, but he's always nice to everyone and they love him just the way he is.

I'm trying to find a new cartoon character to represent the personality that I'm trying to pull out of the recesses of my psyche. I used to be more of a "sunny" personality when I was a child. If I want positive changes in my life, then I need to make them happen myself. Part of those changes need to come from the energy I project out from myself. Having a 2-year-old and a 10-year-old, a cartoon character will not be hard to find.

Disclaimer: I'm a Christian, personally. I don't like offending people, but since this is my personal blog, I'll exercise my freedom of speech and just keep right on going. I hate political correctness.

When I was looking for a therapist, I used the search engine for my HMO. It pulled up a list of names within a certain mile radius of my zip code. It didn't list them by the name of their practice. So, I was a little taken aback when I discovered I had selected a Christian counselor. I am wary of them because many of them put the Christian part before the counseling and end up preaching rather than using sound psychological practices.

Case in point. I was talking with my counselor about my dissatisfaction with my weight loss (lack thereof), and she mentioned my over-focus on it. She said that I was entirely too concerned with how overweight I was. She said I was overweight, but not obese. I should probably mention that my doctors say that I am obese. It has become a medical concern of theirs that I lose weight.

I told her about a particularly painful childhood incident. She discussed how I focused on it. She said that most children would have forgotten about it, but that I focused on it and remembered it vividly until this day, replaying it over and over in my mind. She then asked me if I were familiar with a certain area minister. <> Uh, sure. I know who he is. <>

She went on to talk about how great the minister is at reframing things into positive messages, positive thoughts. I will agree with that. I didn't want to waste my co-pay or my HMOs money, and I really wanted to keep things on track, so I re-directed the conversation away from the minister's book to Michael J. Fox's new book entitled, Always Looking Up which I decided I should look into. I agreed that I should practice the reframing technique, especially since it is a technique taught in Weight Watchers, and it seems to be one that I could benefit from.

I went out a bought the book. I was a lot more comfortable when I left the room. I feel as if I narrowly escaped a conversation involving religion, the minister (my husband and I call him Mr. Teeth), and the overly simplistic concept of thinking happy thoughts.

I wonder how other clients handle similar situations. I wonder if they have anxiety episodes. Religion can bring up serious guilt problems. I remember on my very first visit when I mentioned that I had done the StepUp Walk to Fight Diabetes and that I had just registered for the Komen Houston Race for a Cure and this year's StepUp, she had made a comment about the rewards I would receive for doing it. I was baffled and couldn't understand what she was talking about. I guessed that I would have been rewarded physically by getting in better shape. <> I was kind of disgusted. It is just my opinion, but that is kind of like my school kids who do good in class just to earn stickers. Isn't that kind of an immature reason for doing something good? I'd like to think I'm doing something good just because it is a good thing to do.

The bottom line is that I have Michael J. Fox's book. I'm starting it this evening right after I finish Secrets of a Former Fat Girl. I'll post a reading response to Secrets, and I'll be posting responses to Looking Up too.