2 weeks ago I had difficulty wearing my wedding ring. My first thought was, “I need to expand the ring”. My first thought betrayed me.

I realised I was guilty of focusing externally and thinking of ways to change what caused me inconvenience in my environment. Then, I decided to move away from the window (looking outside) and go to a mirror (looking at self).

I saw that I was gaining weight and I needed to do something about it.

First of all, I looked for what had changed in my diet and noticed that I had started eating late and raised the dairy portion of my diet (I am lactose intolerant).

Secondly, I looked at my workout routine and noticed that I had become less consistent.

Finally, I looked at other areas that showed visible changes and I saw that I now had irregular wake up times, more snooze time and waking up feeling a little tired.

I decided to go deeper to find out what was triggering these changes. After a week, I realised it was due to a feeling of helplessness from a surgery a member of my family had to go through and the fact that I could not be there to support. The surgery had been done and it was successful, but my “coping” poor habits had continued.

So I worked on my diet and exercise regime. My sleeping pattern just naturally fell back into place, and I started waking up feeling refreshed again.

In 1 week, my wedding ring was getting back on with no difficulty.

My wedding ring was a pointer, prompting me to pay attention. I did and it made a difference.

– Osasu Oviawe