# Have you ever made a major positive change in your life?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-made-a-major-positive-change-in-your-life/575328>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 20, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-made-a-major-positive-change-in-your-life/575328 "2011-03-20T04:18:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-made-a-major-positive-change-in-your-life/575328/41 "2011-03-23T22:26:20Z")

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> [@Manda JO](#):
>
> I mention this only because one of my greatest realizations in all of this was that making something a priority means letting other stuff go. And that was hard. But taking the time to always go to the grocery store instead of eating out, to exercise, to get enough sleep, to not get so stressed about stuff that I ate medicinally meant being less of a good teacher and less of a good friend. I think it was worth it, but it would be a lie to pretend their wasn’t a cost. I don’t think it’s nearly as noticeable to others as it is to me–I’m still a good teacher and I hope a good friend–but it was a change.

This is definitely food for thought.

A year and a half ago, my doctor told me that I had to lose 10% of my body weight, or I _would_ develop Type II diabetes. I lost almost 20%.

Trouble is, it’s starting to creep back on, between illness, depression, and laziness. So, now’s the time to rededicate myself to that.

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-made-a-major-positive-change-in-your-life/575328/42 "2011-03-24T00:36:28Z")

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I learned to engage in positive thinking to combat anxiety and depression. I still use it almost daily to combat all the negative, not particularly accurate thoughts I have that make me feel bad and serve no useful purpose.

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