Juice

So, I haven't posted in five days, which, in "blog time" seems more like a month.

I haven't been feeling my chipper self lately.  I don't know what it is exactly… maybe just a cold, maybe more.  I'm not sure but, it's zapped all the blog juice right out of me.  I'm always so impressed when I see other people's blogs who manage to post something everyday.  And, it's not crap either.  It's like really good stuff.

I started this blog at a time in my life when everything seemed to be out of control for lack of a better way to describe it.  I didn't feel well; not mentally, physically, emotionally - none of it.  And, through a series of life changes, a very important one being my diet, I started to feel a lot better.

This blog, Surprisingly Satisfying, was a result of the diet change and is aptly named as a majority of the recipes I post here are mostly, meatless meals.  But, the concept applies to life as well.

Life can be surprisingly satisfying.

It's not always exactly easy to see that though is it.

Sometimes life can also be surprisingly monotonous, unexpectedly frustrating, and all together stressing.

In the past, in times when I've felt somewhat burdened by feelings like this, I would then heap on a few additional pounds of guilt on top of the other feelings already being carried.  Over the course of the last year however, I have found that however seemingly unreasonable your feelings may be or how minute in comparison they are to "other things going on in the world" (of which there are many a grandiose tragedy to choose from if one is so inclined to compare their sufferings or perceived sufferings against them) it is better not to beat yourself up on top of already feeling "blue" but rather, in an act of self-compassion, allow yourself the freedom to feel what you need to feel without an added helping of shame because you don't feel like you deserve to or understand why you feel the way you do.

Aside from diet, there are many other things in life that can add or detract from ones wholeness, wellness, and health.

Like I said, life can be surprisingly satisfying.  Sometimes, we can simply make a choice about how we feel or react to a potentially negative situation.  Sometimes, we can simply adopt a radical attitude of gratitude towards the people, circumstances, and things that we find ourselves surrounded by.

For example, when I rise in the morning, "I am so thankful to be stepping out of bed.  I am so grateful for a toilet with flushing water.  I am so grateful for a cell phone that acts as an alarm clock."  "I am so thankful for my toothbrush.  For healthy teeth.  For eyesight.  For the bed where I slept."

These things might seem minor, maybe even silly but, I think our brains might be trained to default to the negative.  Sometimes I think in order to take control of our thought lives we have to radically reprogram our brains from the default things we might automatically think about to the positive things that life has a way of making us numb or blind to.

This post has nothing to do with food per se.  But life and living is so much more than that too.  It's easy to get stuck in the belief that all energy comes from food… that all life feeds off of food; well, it is for me anyway.  I recognize the propensity in myself to get preoccupied with one thing, thinking it holds a solution to a problem and finding that in fact it has only served as a temporary distraction, which leaves you what?  A few days older with the same problem.

Life is a learning process.  Part of that process is discovering, either serendipitously or by the loving, guiding hand of Love, what makes you tick.  What role are you here to play?  What are some of the idiosyncrasies that make everyday satisfying for you?

But, it's not all a selfish pursuit.  Discovering these things should not be just so that you can be happy and fulfilled but so that you can have an impact and influence the people around you.  That is "the world" as far as you or I is concerned.  The people in our tiny spheres of influence who we come into contact with on a day to day.  Are you out there living your role?  Are you still waiting for the script?  Are you still confused as to what role you play?

That's why the self discovery is important.  Because you have something unique to contribute to the story.

Anyway, sorry to get all philosophical on you.  I'm not sorry.  I'm just figuring things out too.  Life is wonderful.  Life can be surprisingly fulfilling and satisfying.  I want to "eat it up" while I'm here.

Philosophizing,
Rachel