I can go slow.
I reject the harshness of cleanses and detoxes and instead choose to lovingly broker a peace between my body and brain. I won’t use my brain to beat my body into submission–that is the opposite of peace, and unsustainable.
I can take what helps me and leave the rest.
I can indulge my information junkie tendencies, but I don’t have to act on everything I discover. It’s amazing how much science knows about how to nourish the human body and prevent disease. I can use information as inspiration, not yet another thing to feel bad about.
I get to make positive change.
When I add enough that truly nourishes me into my life, the negative will fall away on its own. I don’t need to focus on restricting “bad” things, they will fall away when I no longer need them.
I get to explore.
Some things won’t turn out and that’s okay. Nothing is so important that it can’t turn into a giant mess. This is a form of creativity. I get to play!
I get support.
Sometimes I have to provide my own support and that’s okay, it still counts. I don’t need to have energy about this at all times. I can create systems that hold me when I’m burned out. I can seek out supportive people.
I don’t have to be hungry.
I get to eat, really and truly eat, when I am hungry. As I nourish myself with essential nutrients, my body will get stronger and stronger.
I am not a “before & after” photo.
The old way of eating was not bad, the old way of being was not bad. Because nothing about me is bad. It filled a need at the time. I may find other ways to fill those needs, but the needs themselves are legitimate.
The way I eat will save the world.
I will show kindness to myself first. It will radiate outward to other humans, animals, and the environment.
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This is great Eileen! Many of these points resonate with me in how I wish to practice martial arts. Thank you for writing this.
Totally! I think a lot of this just applies to life in general
Thanks Pat!
I love all of this – but I especially love the “I am not a before & after photo” point. Life is a constantly-evolving journey, not a single moment that marks ‘before’ and ‘after’.
” I won’t use my brain to beat my body into submission–that is the opposite of peace, and unsustainable.”
Exactly!!!
My word for myself this year is “nourish”, in the widest sense, and since my work centers on postpartum depression support, I do not always mean it to be about food. But this? Was the most nourishing piece of writing about food I can remember. Thank you for this.
Eileen, this is lovely.