#Futile January 17

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FUTILE behavior can be frustrating. For the past 17 days I have been engaged in a Sugar Free 30-Day Challenge. It has been hardest of all the previous (24) 30 Day Challenges I have done. Part of difficulty stems from FUTILE attempts by me seeing if I can outsmart my guide of Yes Foods and No Foods.

Here is that Sugar Detox Guide from Further Food that I am using to determine what I can and cannot consume.

For the first week I was acting and thinking like an attorney. A specific lawyer that could navigate some type of Sugar Detox loophole. It was my hope to find a substitute for bread, cookies, coffee sweetener, salad dressings, and of course beer. After a week I concluded my energy was FUTILE. In fact, the opening lines of Scott Peck‘s book “The Road Less Traveled” began to resonate loud and clear.

Road Less Traveled Advice on Futile Avoidance

This is a book I have read several times. It exposed me to a great truth that during the first week of Sugar Free Detox I had forgotten. Peck begins his best-selling book with the two sentences below.

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it.”

Beginning the second week of this challenge I stopped trying to circumvent the difficulty of going Sugar Free and embrace it.

Futility Examples of my Life

1. Worrying about things I cannot control-example tomorrow’s weather
2. Saying YES to every request that comes my way and still expecting to still be able to achieve my goals.
3. Believing I change other people. Accept the best I can do is influence others-they guard their own “gate of change”.
4. Worrying about all the gaps I have to achieve perfection in my life. Realizing a focus on the improvement gains I achieve is superior.
5. Complaining to someone who has no authority or influence on changing my issue.

This month’s challenge is still personally challenging to me, but it has become manageable because I have accepted that following the Sugar Detox chart is really a black and white choice. The FUTILITY was me trying to negotiate with myself that I could consume added sugars and still complete the challenge. It is difficult and I accept that. Acceptance is rarely FUTILE.