Day 18: Giving yourself permission to lighten up - The Cookie (Joyce Meyer)

     Joyce Meyer in her latest book, Eat the Cookie, Buy the Shoes, starts out telling us about an incident between her and her husband.  She was at the end of one of her weekend long speaking conferences and she had one more speech to give.  She saw a plate of cookies and took just 1/3 to give her enough to walk through the finish line.  Her husband witnesses this and confronts her.  They had started a strict exercise/ diet program and he decided to call her out.  To him it was a violation while to her it was just a part of a cookie that she felt she deserved after a long weekend of hard work and one more speech to give.  A friend saw what was happening, came over to Joyce and said, "You deserve that cookie, and if I were you, when this last session is over I would go and buy a pair of shoes with it."  She understood that the cookie was meeting an emotional side not just the logical left brain side.  Joyce says "There are times when we all need to eat the cookie and buy the shoes in order to help us finish what we have started or as a way of celebrating something we have accomplished."  The cookie and shoes are anything you enjoy (ie. a new book, mocha coffee from Starbucks etc.)  
     Joyce could have let her guilt, brought on by her husbands comment, consume her.  Instead she decided to be confident in her choice as she also encourages us to be the same.  People's comments can bring guilt and take away our joy when making these choices that mean so much to us.  We are not built for guilt, says Joyce, "Your future has no room for your past.  How much time do you waste feeling guilty?"  Guilt is feeling that you have done something very bad.  Eating thecookie was neither a good or wise choice because of the regement they were on but it wasn't a sin!  We need joy along the journey.  This is what fuels us to finish with a sense of accomplishment and not with a chip on our shoulder. Guilt is not from God.  Life is to be celebrated and enjoyed all along the way!  I know I feel this way once I get home from work.  What needs to be done before I can sit down and relax?  Then the whole night is done and its time for bed.  Why is it so hard to relax and celebrate the accomplishments of the day?