Purposeful Health Challenge

AA has played a big role in my life.

I could write whole articles about the things a community is capable of achieving when they work together instead of in isolation.

I could talk about how much more beautiful and truthful your life becomes when you find strength in vulnerablity, instead of seeking strength in being rigid.

Today though, I’m going to talk about what I’ve learned about addictions, and how even though I’m not an alcoholic, I know I’m an addict.

This is where I go up to the front, look out at all of you and introduce myself

*ahem*

my name is James, and I’m a freegan.

What’s that mean you ask? Well, I wasn’t always this financially stable. My lovely basement room abode and my growing savings account (now back up over three figures!) might lead you to believe I was always this stable, but no sir!

Jokes aside, the truth is that I spent a few years struggling financially, and I got in the habit of taking my food where I could. I made friends that knew the right dumpsters to hit, I knew which stores had the samples, and I knew which co-workers never finished their meal (leaving plenty of room for a serruptitious ‘are you going to eat that’?)

In short, when food came my way, I saw it as my mana from heaven. I knew God cared about me, would provide for me, and I felt blessed every time he/she helped me get through a day.

How my lessons from poverty are going to apply to you.

Here’s the thing, I’ve been slowly realizing these last few months that I’ve got some strong emotional feelings around free food now.

• When I see food I instantly get hungry. Who knows when I’ll have the option again?
• When I’m offered food from a friend, it’s hard to turn it down. I’ve been surprised to realize it’s because when I do, I feel lonely.
• Now that I have money in my pocket, it’s hard to walk past restaurants without going in. If I walk past and ‘deprive’ myself, I feel broke.

Now, how’s that apply to you?

This is all about addictions. I know with alcoholism there’s a lot of physical componants to the addiction, but the truth is that addiction is all about our emotions. How does doing something make us feel?

There was this one day in particular, around a month ago. I was walking through the edges of Fred Meyer, hitting my usual haunts. The bulk section, the produce section, the ‘almond milk’ part of the refrigerated healthy foods section. But the thing that caught me off guard, was that when I walked past the muffin samples I not only got hungry, I started feeling desperate and powerless. Walking away even made me feel kind of afraid… I recognized it as a scarcity feeling.

The reason most people go their whole Lives without changing, is because while everyone feels these things, most people don’t wake up and notice them. They just act on them.

Here’s where hope comes in

this is your wake-up call, not that you need it:).

I have a belief, and that belief says that if you’re here, it’s because you’re already one of the people in our world who’s woken up.

You’re capable of seeing things about yourself that people sleepwalking through life might not ever realize, but that doesn’t mean the change is going to come on it’s own. It often doesn’t even mean that awareness isn’t going to come on it’s own, so at first it might take a little practice to recognize where you’ve got these emotional triggers set.

My name is James and I was a freegan.

But once a freegan always a freegan? I was blessed in the past with what I prayed for. Now though, I recognize that this body is itself a gift, and it’s meant to be treated with respect and care. Now it’s time to make whole new associations, ones where walking past muffins bring a feeling of power and purpose! One where walking past restaurant while I have money is simple a reminder of what I have to be grateful for, and that I never have to feel like I need to take what’s in front of me today because there may not be anything there tomorrow.

Today, i want to challenge you to think about your triggers, and your weak spots.
Is chocolate your ‘I need a hug’ replacement?
Is wine your ‘I’m a stressed out type A personality’ way to unwind?
Maybe you’ve got some other earlier stop on your journey that’s still got some straggling associations: ). We’re all unique, and I’d love to hear about your story!

So, the challenge is to write a little something below. It’s an ongoing process of discovery, but even just sharing a trigger you have might help jog something, and once you see yourself truly, you can choose to recreate yourself.

So comment below: )!

namaste.