Of habits

Right now I am bringing a few new habits into my life. One of them is a dramatic change to the way I eat. Another is adding movement exercise back into my life.  

I have found a couple of things useful as I develop these additions and enhancements to my life.

The first, ironically, is not to think of them as new habits. For me the word habit implies that something is a chore; I am not going to have fun incorporating this into my life. It also implies that it is something I can gain, but also something I can lose.

The things I am now building into my life are not negotiables. They are my new 'MO'; the way I am going to live from this point onwards. These will then becoming building blocks for other things. They may change and grow, but they are so important that losing them as a habit is no longer an option.

The second is that I do not have to nail these new habits (or perhaps I should say practises or something else instead of habit!) right from week 1. Changing my eating means changing my shopping, how I cook, where I eat out. Learning new movements involves different coordination and new daily routines. These are not insignificant changes, and especially early on I will not be able to incorporate all the change I want to.

The important thing is that I start pointing myself in the direction I want to go. Small changes are key at this point, and all the incremental changes will be of benefit and move me closer towards the new state of being. Mistakes and failures do not mean I should give up on my 'habits'. They do not mean I am never going to make it. It means that I am in the process of learning and incorporating, and they are to be celebrated.

Thoughts on food

Two things are changing in the way I feel about food and eating. 

The first is that I am going from a base assumption that I eat for pleasure and that good food is food that makes me feel good when I have it in my mouth. What I am moving towards is a base assumption that I eat for function, and that good food is food that makes me feel good for the day, week, and year after I have had it in my mouth.

Building upon this, the second is that I am being challenged about the quantity and quality of the food I eat, and therefore the amount of money I spend on food. Food has been an area I have tried to minimise spend on as much as possible. In moving to a different foundation, I realise that money spent on food is not money wasted. It is actually an investment in myself and how well I am able to show up in each moment.

I have no idea how to take my kids along on the same journey...but that can be a topic for another day.

Unfortunately I think I am vegetarian

For about a year I have had a suspicion that I am better when I don't eat meat. Not better in a moral sense, but better in a present, creative, energised sense.  

This started when I spent 10 days on a retreat eating vegetarian food. It was the first time I saw vegetarian food as a tasty and a viable alternative. I also started to notice how well I felt.  

I maintained this for about a month after the retreat and then started eating meat again. One year on, this past month I have become so aware of the impact the food I put into my mouth have on the rest of my being. 

Then I watched the film Unity , and I have struggle to eat meat since. Now it has become not only an issue of wellbeing for me, but also for all life living on the planet I am connected to. I feel I am doing my growing consciousness harm by eating the flesh of another being, so much so that I am beginning to be repulsed by meat. 

And this is unfortunate because I really don't want to be that person who is annoying at meal times. I really don't want to have to make that much of a scene. But it seems that negotiating ethics, consciousness, wellbeing, and presence is the situation I find myself in, and must embrace.