Breaking the cycle. (02)

by | Mar 21, 2018 | loved-joyful-nourished | 0 comments

When one of our kids was younger, they had night terrors. Until I had a child that had night terrors, I had no idea how much different they were than bad dreams and nightmares.
They would wake up in the night, we would find him sometimes still in bed, or in another room in the house and beyond upset and unable to reason with. They were still asleep. Once the terrors went on long enough with no clear solution we took our struggle to the family doctor.
The doctor said that once the night terrors start, they become patterned into the sleep cycle. The terrors hit during a certain point in the sleep cycle, so in order to end the night terrors, we were going to have to change their sleeping pattern. So, every 2 hours we had to wake our child up. And not sort-of wake them up, but fully wake them up. (I think it was for an entire week).
This was not easy. We all were tired by the end of the week, but it worked. The cycle of night terrors was broken.
When living the “binge lifestyle,” I too would look for what could break my cycle of binging. As I mentioned before, typically it was some type of success. Something that would happen that would give me hope that I could also overcome the cycle of overeating.
I would wake up in the morning feeling so stuck. Really I would think if I could just stay in bed, then I could avoid cooking, the kitchen, going anywhere there is food. But I”m a wife, a mom, I work, staying in bed wasn’t an option. And telling my struggle to everyone wasn’t either. So the belief that I was stuck would stay, and hope that something would happen to help me out of the rut would accompany me throughout my day.
As I think back, I believe this last round lasted so long because I was so taken by surprise it was still a struggle in my life.
I thought I had won. I thought I had beat the food-demon that had for so long kept me prisoner. For goodness sake, I have been through Beth Moore’ “Breaking Free” study three times! And the third time I did deal with breaking free of comfort food.
This round, the moment the cycle was cracked, I felt it. In my bones and soul and could feel the shift starting to happen and hope had enough space to start working within me. My internal celebrations I don’t think had ever been so joyful! Freedom was coming.
Freedom is work. Breaking the cycle is work. If you are stuck in the middle of a damaging cycle right now, what is it that usually brings you hope?
This round, I needed to get around people that have similar interests and would push my thinking and abilities a bit. Actually—a lot. I was majorly pushed out of my comfort zone physically, in a safe environment.
For you, it will be different. However, I do recommend if you haven’t found it yet, you begin doing three things.
  1. Begin giving God room to work in your life in the areas that you don’t want to give Him control. Tell Him, I want you to work, but I know that there are some areas that I don’t feel ready to give completely to you. Here is the space that I’m going you right now. (Psalms 86:11) is a great verse to prayer during this season.
  2. Ask God to show you the next step you need to take to break the cycle. And be prepared to be moved out of your comfort zone a bit.
  3. Thank God for what He is doing in your life, even what you are unaware of.
If you feel comfortable enough, I’d love to hear about how God has worked in your life to break through old patterning and cycles that hold you back. Please also feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
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(Note about breaking the cycle of night terros: I also changed the blankets they was using.  I noticed when they would wake up, they would be covered in sweat. I do believe this helped as they  got older and after the cycle was broken.) These days I would also try essential oils. Back then I didn’t know anything about them. 🙂

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