What are you afraid of?
…And how long have you been afraid of it?
I’ve been asked that question many times by many different mentors in my life.
So I now ask it to you…
What are you afraid of?
Hold the answer a minute..
It seems, now a days, that I come across as fairly competent in most aspects of my life
…except when I wasn’t.
There was a time in my life when I had issues with the substances I put into my body.
The whole gory story is getting to be public knowledge now. So I’ll save it for another email.
But I will answer the question for you.
I was afraid I was an addict.
I hated the word and now the people who could supposedly help me were saying I had to call myself that and wear it like a badge of honor.
You know, quite honestly, I never liked the idea.
It seemed limiting.
I was, I am, much more than that.
When I bought the domain name SugarAddiction.com years ago because of my passion for getting this message out the terms addiction and addict were just the way things were done.
When I started there were only two or there books on sugar addiction on Amazon. Today there are over 150!
Times they are a changin’.
These days people from the Recovery Advocacy Movement, the treatment industry, and even the United States government have come to realize that those names promote the absolute opposite of what needs to promoted.
Stigma.
The thought leaders, practitioners and yes even the US government have come to the conclusion that in order to stem the tide of abuses of all kinds we to make treating addiction like any other health care issue.
A point of view I support wholeheartedly.
The messaging is changing slowly.
Words like addicts, alcoholics, and abuse are being dropped for ones like substance use disorder.
I’m 100% behind the moves to reduce stigma and help people with these health issues not be marginalized by old words and stigma.
So what does that have to do with you?
If I had a nickel for every time someone told me they didn’t think they were a sugar addict…
But when I dug a little deeper or changed my messaging to say – sugar dependent – then that was OK with them.
I certainly understand the desire not to be dragged into the old stigmatized words and attitudes. As I told you, when I was getting help it was what I was most afraid of.
Like the people around me didn’t know anyway. LOL – Kinda funny when I look back on it.
So now, it’s your turn:
Tell me what you’re afraid of when it comes to quitting sugar.
1. You don’t want to be called or call yourself an addict?
Answer. Let’s call it a slight sugar dependency from now on – OK?
2. You don’t want to commit to quitting sugar for the rest of your life?
Answer. You don’t have to.
3. You’re afraid what the people around you will think and how hard it will be socially?
Answer. We’ve navigated those waters for decades and can show you simple and easy ways to blend in nicely.4.
4. You’re afraid you’ll miss your “treats”?
Answer. You’re going to be shocked when I tell you this, and even more shocked when it happens to you.
You’re going to find that most everything you eat now is going to taste just too sweet for you after just a few weeks off sugar. Happens all the time!
So stop being afraid my friends.
Nothing will ever be accomplished if at first all objections must be overcome. ….JR Simplot.
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