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Losing Weight

This year I’m going on a diet!
In prayer and humility
I’m going to reject those enticing spoonfuls of
impatience,
indifference,
intolerance,
criticism;
refuse to partake in bouts of
depression,
ingratitude,
selfishness.

Instead
my diet includes
unlimited amounts of
quiet patience,
true compassion,
bubbling joy,
deep understanding,
unending forgiveness,
unconditional love.
These can be taken at any time of the day
in quantities that are as large as possible!

I’m going to exercise, too!—
my God-given authority—
to see, feel, and act rightly.
Not just a ten-minute exercise,
but continuously, hourly, every minute—
a moment-by-moment mental
s t r e t c h i n g—
each day more than I did the
day before.

In this way
the true outline,
the embodiment
of elegant balance,
perfect proportion,
the Soul-filled harmony
of God’s being,
will be seen
as
me.

by Jill Gooding
Reprinted from the Christian Science Sentinel
July 19,1993

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