Monday, May 20, 2013

To eat, or not to eat, that is the question:

{oil painting via galaxyguide.com}
I published this post forever ago, but I could use the reminder, personally.

Don’t eat carbs but carrots are okay to eat, take vitamins A thru Zinc but only in their natural state, olive oil is good for your heart but don’t heat it above 100 degrees, eat broccoli for iron but don’t eat it raw and don’t boil it in water because it will lose all it’s nutrients, eggs are a good breakfast but don’t use a non-stick pan and don’t eat more than six a week, blueberries are good because of the anti-oxidants but be careful because they are carbs, look out for MSG but it’s not always on the label, eat non-processed foods but only organic if you do, wash your fruits and vegetables to rinse off the chemicals but don’t use store bought soap, look out for sodium and cholesterol but you need some so your brain can function, only eat a certain amount of calories a day but eat more if you use more energy, don’t eat… STOP!!!!!

I don’t know about you, but I am sick of it.

My counselor challenged me to go into a grocery store and find an item that didn’t have something negative about it.

Apple – peal is covered in wax
Diet Soda – it has Aspartame
Organic carrots – just because it says organic doesn’t mean they didn’t use chemicals to clean it
Milk – you are most likely allergic to the protein in dairy
Dried Fruit – the bag was not recyclable and it has preservatives in it
Chicken – the lady behind the counter was not wearing a hair net

Have I made my point?

To make a long story short, everything I picked up, I could make up some reason it was bad…or at least arguably so.

I then heard this old Middle Eastern proverb and thought it was appropriate.

“Once there was a man who worked in the fields all day. At night, the man went to his tent to rest and recuperate for the next day’s work. He lit a candle, sat on the floor, and took out a bowl of figs to eat. He took the first fruit and opened it only to find a worm. He discarded that piece outside and opened the next one. It too had a worm inside. Each piece of fig he opened had worm. When the bowl was over half gone, the man had a thought. He blew out the candle and finished the bowl.”

Sometimes it’s better to just not know. We are all fortunate enough not to have to worry about worms in our food. But there are lists and lists of other things to make us worry about what we are eating. If we paid attention to all of them, we would die of starvation.

Sometimes you just have to say, “Oh well!”, and turn off the lights of your overactive brain.

I don’t know about you, but going into a grocery store is overwhelming as it is. You definitely don’t need a bunch of negative thoughts on top of all the over stimulation.

I know a lady who lived to be 90 years old and ate a donut and drank coffee with creamer every morning. She had no major health problems and was always in good spirits because of an incredible prayer life. I am sure she had her days, but she definitely didn't waste her time on earth worrying about heart healthy whole grains.

The honest truth; we are all going to die someday. The sooner you make peace with that fact, the sooner you will experience peace. The goal is not to live forever on this planet, but to live forever in Heaven.

5 comments:

  1. I wanted to drop in and say hello! I find your blog on Tiny Buddha to be very informative and helpful. Although I am not Catholic, I hope to read more posts from you.

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    1. Hello! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I am glad you liked my article. Let me know what you think about other articles too, if you continue reading. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you!

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  2. I am totally enjoying your blog. Actually can relate to this quandary immensely. I just wanna get to a place, mentally that is, where I can eat like a normal person without worrying over carbs, fats, preservatives, etc. it's so tiresome!

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    1. You can do it! I takes some practice and self-compassion, but it is totally possible. You are worth it. Keep fighting!

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