I just recently did a cleanse. It was a 10 day program with herbal capsules and a strict diet. That meant doing without all the things I have grown accustomed. Tea (sweet tea with milk), sugar, carbs, alcohol basically everything except fruit and veggies.
Now don’t get me wrong I love my fruit and veggies but when you have them and nothing else it brings up a lot of stuff. It is then we start to realize how much we use food as a comfort and a way of avoiding our feelings or relinquishing boredom.
Not many people can say that they have not reached out for a block of chocolate (or their favourite thing) when they were feeling sad, stressed, overwhelmed, tired and even happy. If we are stressed we might enjoy a drink after work to unwind. If we are sad we might tuck into some ice cream or chocolate. If we are happy and enjoying company with friends we might overindulge in many ways.
Enjoying these things is of course ok. It’s part of the fun of life to enjoy life’s pleasures. It is when we do it too much that it’s a problem. When we can’t function without having something. That’s when we know we are avoiding something.
So when you do a cleanse or just go without like in Dry July it’s a chance to get to know yourself again minus that thing you were using. Every time we use something to cope it becomes part of who we are, which is why people will say I wouldn’t know what to do with myself without my coffee or chocolate. They can’t imagine life without it.
Many people don’t know who they really are. They are afraid to find out as in order to find out it means delving into themselves and seeing what is there and it can be scary down there! There is pain and heartache that we all hold inside from past hurts, many starting from so early in our lives we don’t even remember.
But unless we go in, life will always be about what we can use to substitute it. Food, cigarettes, alcohol. You would have heard on the news that we are the most obese country in the world now, we are one of the worst consumers of alcohol and most people enjoy junk food many times a week. Something about our culture has allowed us to lose our discipline about having things in moderation and temptation is everywhere.
But wouldn’t you like to feel great no matter where you were, what you ate or drank and who you were with? You owe that to yourself and you deserve it. Nothing feels better than being totally content just to be you.
So have a think about going without something for a while, something you really depend on and see if you can instead depend on yourself. I know I have renewed my commitment to myself on a deeper level again now through my cleanse and I’m sure you can too.
