It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I have a clock that projects the time on the ceiling. It sets itself with radio signals, so it’s a set and forget kind of thing. I went to bed a couple of nights ago, and the time on the ceiling was two hours earlier, so I hit the time zone change button and determined to fix it the next day.
In the night, the radio signals reset it, so when I woke up, the clock said 3:00. It was actually 5:00, my wake up time, so I was well-rested but running a little late.
That afternoon, I changed the batteries. The time was still off, but I assumed it would come right in the night. It didn’t. That morning, I put it by the window – a few feet from my nightstand, and it set itself. My clock is a bit demented. Or old. Or Joey has knocked it off the nightstand one time too many.
There are a number of things I don’t understand about these clocks, but I do know a few things:
- They keep very accurate time. Normally.
- They need their source of radio waves to set themselves.
- They must have batteries even if they’re plugged into power. Why they will work on batteries alone but not on electric power alone, I don’t understand.
- It will take its signals from a distance, but after a battery change, it truly wants to be right by the window to reset itself – I suppose to have the clearest radio signal?
- Changing the batteries worked before. Beyond that, I am not great at troubleshooting them, so it was time to consult an expert. I couldn’t get past this point of repair.
When you get stuck in a less than preferable pattern – maybe you can’t get past a particular food craving, or you hit a plateau, or you get too stressed – what do you do?
Like many of you, I always went with what had worked for me – until it didn’t. Or until I was no longer willing to accept the results from my go-to soothing. I needed different troubleshooting and a little help.
What can we learn from my clock experience?
- We can do very well normally, and then something happens that throws us off. We do so well in other areas, but this one area — we just can’t seem to find the answer on our own.
- We need our source of radio waves – whatever guides you. It may be your reason for wanting to shed the weight, it may be faith or a belief, maybe something your mentor said, or desire to achieve that goal. When we’re in touch with that source, we tend to stay on track.
- We may not need to be on a window sill, but we have specific needs. Every BODY is different, every HEART is different. Your experiences have created what drives you to food for comfort and stress relief, so what you need to process and reset yourself will be individual. That’s what YOU need.
- Back-up is essential. Without it, or when it fails, we lose our signals and orientation. Our backup provides us support or accountability to get us back on track.
- AND – sometimes we just get thrown off and really just need all our resources to set right again. We think we ought to be able to do this ourselves. I thought that for 40 years, and it was only when I had back up and real accountability that I got to my goal and have stayed there for over eight years.
What do you need?
