I love food. For a variety of reasons, I have had the chance to eat the staples and delicacies of dozens of different cultures. I love hot. I love salty. I love raw. I love fried. I love... well, I love it all.
Who here doesn't have something they love to indulge in? For many of us, it's something edible, like food, chocolate, wine, or candy. For others, it is staying in bed or reading pulp fiction. It could be spending hours every day browsing the Internet or watching TV or...
The list goes on. What do you indulge in? How much? How often?
Having entertaining ways to spend time and fill our bodies or minds a good thing. After all, it's the pleasures that give life color and depth. Working all the time, living a life devoid of any special treats, or intentionally depriving yourself of luxuries can teach you a lot about yourself. These are all good in moderation.
These things are only bad when you become addicted to them. So the real question is, what are you addicted to? By 'addicted', I don't mean in the clinical sense, I mean what can't you live without for an extended period on a moment's notice? What would be painful or traumatic to adjust to if it were suddenly not available in your daily routine?
One of the things I learned while living alone in the wilderness was that food is precious. Not precious in the sense that gold is precious, I mean that food is precious the way that air is precious. Modern living is such that, like most people, I have food in abundance around me all the time. It wasn't until I went without food entirely for a week, then spent another three weeks on a diet of about half my daily metabolic requirements that I realized just how little I had respected food.
Could you fill the time if all your electronics were taken away? Could you remain at peace if the silence of your home were disturbed throughout the night by a barking dog or noisy neighbors? Could you continue to function if you had to go without alcohol or food for a week or more? If you lost all your money, could you keep your sense of humor and goodwill?
There is nothing to be gained by lifelong abstinence from your vices. You need indulgences to feed your senses and stimulate creativity. The things you can learn from an alcohol-free life can be learned even if you drink occasionally. But there is much to learn by taking away your guilty pleasures periodically and reminding yourself to respect the joy and pleasure you take in them.
What are your pleasures? Try abstaining for a while... you just might learn something about yourself.
Other news
- I'm not thrilled over how the vaccine is created; I'm glad to see this one go: Long-time smallpox vaccine is destroyed [www.msnbc.msn.com]
- Too mellow to dig out the stash: ADHD Drugs Won't Raise Risk of Substance Abuse [healthday.com]
- Yes, losing weight is a good thing: Weight-Loss Surgeries Extend Lives [healthday.com]
From the editor
Just when I thought I was well and truly getting into spring, two more snowfalls rolled in back-to-back. I was already thinking about putting my hat and gloves away for the season. Now I have to brace myself for another few weeks of cold.
I am already longing to return to the tropics, and it's only been two weeks since I returned from vacation...
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
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