Skip to main content

Year Two, Day 44: Thoughts Matter

"Fasting is a good practice to adopt as we start serious work in the spiritual life. Most people think of fasting as eating nothing for long periods of time. However, John Cassain's [a fourth century monk] teaching on fasting is that we should simply put food and our thoughts about food into proper balance, eating only at meals and not in between. If we fast in this way, we can get in touch with our thoughts, because when we feel the bodily need of food and drink, we begin to notice our thoughts about food and we know we must let them go without acting on them if we hope to progress in calming our mind. If all we think about are bodily needs, then conscious prayer remains a distant goal. If we can't tame the thought of food, there is no hope of getting control of the more difficult thoughts, such as sex and anger."  Thoughts Matter: The Practice of the Spiritual Life, Mary Margaret Funk, 1998.

I am on my way down to Salem to teach today.  I just read the above paragraph.  Wise words from a 4th century monk! I often think the "old ways" were better.

I have been trying to unravel my eating issues for so long, but this is a perspective that really resonates with me at this time in my life.  I am seeking discipline, peace and a closer relationship to God.  And my obsession with food separates me from these goals.

I am still writing down what I eat in my food journal.  I notice that I seem to need to eat something every three hours. Limiting myself to three moderate meals a day sounds a little scary.  But, I must not be afraid!  

I have faced more than this in my life!

It actually motivates me. I like planning. My new plan will be to plan my daily meal times and try to fast in between.

I am ready. I can do this!

I will start tomorrow.

Hey, today is my India buffet lunch day! After which I plan on a nice long Salem walk. I have some things to ponder. Plus I need to walk off the India buffet lunch calories.

Happy Wednesday! :)


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Year Three, Day 110: I Like Change, But How Do I Help the Suffering?

I woke up in a bit of a panic this morning. I had planned on getting to the track by 6:30 a.m., because I thought today was the first day of school. You see, the public is not allowed to use the track when school is in session. Understandably so. But alas, I overslept! I still headed out with my hoop, hoping it was before school hours at 7:30 a.m. And I breathed a sigh of relief. The school looked vacant. And only one solitary jogger with her solitary dog was present. I got busy in case the kids were due to arrive. Got a nice hoop workout in. No sign of children as I walked back to the house. So I did what I should have done in advance. I consulted Google. And most happy am I - North Clackamas School District does not start back to school until September 6th! Portland Public Schools start today. But the elementary school next door to the track lists "student hours" as 7:45 - 2:00 p.m. So I really am going to have to get an earlier start next week. I am aiming...

Year Two, Day 201: "I"

Before my first meeting with "I" I had a wonderful first date last night! We had a lot on common. The conversation flowed easily. We laughed. It was so lovely, that I think I shall not blog about him. Not yet anyway. I am just going to call him "I". I like I. 😉 Today was a long, wonderful family day. Went to church with my daughter and son-in-law. Very powerful, uplifting service. After that we went to the horse races. Had a blast. Broke even. Essentially had a free lunch and four hours of entertainment. After the horses, we had yet another Thanksgiving dinner at my niece's place. It was her first turkey. It was amazing! But thank God I had enough willpower to resist the pie! Tomorrow I go for my first physical therapy appointment. Tuesday it is back to the gym!! Happy Sunday!

Day 338: Unicorns in the Bible!

I am still working out the kinks in my daily routine. I am going to try practicing piano first today. I find I get so sidetracked that I don't get enough time in, and then I feel stress. I have quite a few performances coming up. Do not need stress!  So, my new daily plan will look something like this:  Wake up Pray Drink water and smoothie Piano practice Exercise Lunch Teach Read Bible and blog in between students Dinner Stretch Pray Bed My daughter and I food prepped last night. We made enough crockpot meals for our family of four for the next 2 to 3 weeks.  We put them in bags and tossed them in the freezer. We have turkey, veggie chili going on right now. Man, does the house smell good! My psalm of the day made me chuckle today. And got me curious about translations.  I read Psalm 29 in my King James Bible. Notice the appearance of the mythical unicorn in verse 6!   Psalm 29 1   Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty,  ...