08 Oct Beware Of Fanaticism
A lady in the health food store was looking at the vegetables. All of a sudden, the sprayers came on and sprinkled them with water. The woman almost screamed: “Spraying tap water on the organic vegetables? You’re ruining them. I don’t want them after they’ve been contaminated!”
She left the produce guy standing there in shock and hurried off to find the manager. “I shop here because I want pure food. Do you think I want tap water with hundreds of chemicals on my fresh food? I’m going to contact your superior and, if necessary go to the head of your company to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” The manager looked at her. “The water’s filtered,” he said.
She’s not wrong.
Who wants chemicals on organic vegetables? But her emotional reaction was more deleterious to her health than tap water on the broccoli.
It may sound like a contradiction because I’m pushing for a healthy lifestyle, but we’re on the planet to do more than have the perfect diet. I assure you that when you are dying and taking your last breath, the fact that you consumed the perfect diet will mean nothing.
Spiritually, it adds up to zero. We eat well only to be healthy and live a fuller life.
I don’t favor blind fanaticism, and I’ve learned from being one. I’ve spent many hours rooting around markets all over the world getting raw foods. I’d pick up some raw fish, go back to my hotel, and eat alone, when I could have been enjoying the most flavorful cuisines of the world. Perhaps I’d attained some degree of health, but I’ve missed enjoying the foods of the world and sharing them with others.
Beware of slipping into the disease of fanaticism, no matter what kind of diet you’re on. Life, including what we eat, should be a celebration, not a toil. If your road to health is stressful, you’re defeating the entire purpose because inside you’re not free and therefore not fully living.
If at any point famine occurs, most will eat whatever they can, including the very food they turned their nose up to, out of a garbage can with mold growing on it.
I’m not giving you an excuse to eat anything, only suggesting to relax and let life flow. Rigid fanaticism never helps health on the deepest levels because rigidity is the polar opposite of flowing. Dr Jensen had a saying:
“It’s not what you do sometimes, but what you do everyday that counts.”
I eat nearly raw food most of the time, only because it makes me feel young, strong, and healthy–– right now in the present moment. This increases my enjoyment of life and far outweighs the pleasure of eating any other way. But if I can’t get it, I do the best I can and gladly eat what’s put in front of me.
No Comments