How to really change your life
Posted by ohmyraw! | 4 comments
In everyone’s life there are several big days that make or break the flow of our lives: a new pregnancy; a cancer diagnosis; a new marriage or divorce; the death of a family member; and on.
These short events drastically change our lives in a second and leave us reeling or celebrating for days or months (sometimes years) to come.
We give these events a lot of weight because they are highly emotional.
Today, I want to sharpen your focus:
Equally relevant (although often ubiquitous) is how we live our lives each moment of the day. Try counting the times you’ve have had a negative thought; the times you have reached for a sweet “treat”; the number of nights you’ve gotten to bed way too late.
While these instances are not always highly emotional like the days that “change” your life, they are equally as pertinent, weaving the true fabric of our lives; the bulk of our existence.
If we take care to meditate each day, cook a nutritious meal each day, compliment a loved one, than we are working towards cultivating a life that is rich and full of joy and loving-kindness towards ourselves and others.
Likewise, if we eat unhealthy food in many instances, skip workouts most days, worry moment-to-moment, than our life will be made up of the ill-health that results from our habits before we know it.
This is especially pertinent to diet (not dieting) because, just as we must sleep every night, we must eat several times a day, every day (fasting and cleansing aside) for the rest of our lives.
Health is built one day at a time, over and over again with small deposits each day – a kale salad here, a roasted squash there, an awesome raw maki roll for supper. It is a lifelong recognition about the role that food plays in our lives and our relationship to it, the environment and our future. This doesn’t mean we are perfect either but that, on the whole, we work towards health, not against it.
It is all too easy to forget this in the moment and think, I’ll change this the next time, but stop yourself for a real moment and ask yourself: what are the small day to day things that you keep doing that you want to change? What are your goals; what are your actions and how can you merge the two?
Take a deeper look at the moments of your life and know that, just as a highly emotional event can throw us off-centre or send us soaring to new heights, the little day-to-day tweaks can truly change our lives.
Tell me something: what are the smaller things that you keep doing that keep you off track? What does this really represent? You can either respond below or just think about it.
© 2012, ohmyraw!. All rights reserved.
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Happens June 29th 2013
In The News
I read your blog with interest,Sarah, you made me think ! What makes me lose my focus ? Hunger,exhaustion, instant gratification ! I am vulnerable then to cross that line ! I will gorge myself with a pizza. The smell, the taste, and I realize the need to conform, to belong, to be like “others” are also at play. To be vegan is a lonely experience ! Part of me relishes it, to be myself, to be different- there is also an other part of me which strives to belong to the majority of people, to blend in. So I am to eat more snacks, I am to drink more water so I won’t so hungry and tired. I will etch in my mind the veal connection and their suffering as the suffering of milking cows. I will etch in my mind that dairy is bad fat. I have to maintain many foci, health, animal welfare and rights,environment to keep myself on track as temptation can be quite a force to reckon with. Sarah thanks again for your blog, keep up your great work. Namaste Hugues
Hello Hugues, Thank you so much for your HONESTY! It is very refreshing to hear this.
Yes, indeed the vegan path can be a lonely one at times. I think it is better than it has ever been but there are always those days you do just want to down a whole cheese pizza, as you so aptly said. I too believe the best defense is to be prepared. Hunger will make even the most disciplined eater quiver at the smell of freshly baked rolls.
As for the comment about blending in, I completely agree. I think a great way to combat this is to keep yourself immersed in vegan raw culture. If there are potlucks in the area (yes, I’m having one this weekend!) or classes they can help.
If that is too much or you’ve already tried that, even watching a really good documentary like Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead or Crazy Sexy Cancer or Forks Over Knives, are all really inspiring ways to kick your butt back into gear.
If you are an audio person there are audio books you can download onto your Mp3 player as well. It really does help if we have family members who will support us or even partake too. Surrounding ourselves with this type of positive feedback can really make things feel much more “normal”.
In addition to the reasons of animal cruelty, fat quality, etc, it is great to remember that you’re also really doing this for YOU (at least this is true for me), your health and longevity, your family and to truly nourish your body down to the very last cell because we love life and want to live it to the fullest.
Sometimes all that is needed is a real perspective shift about how lucky and fortunate we are to be able to feed ourselves in this way that is not a possibility for others who are in much more difficult times all over the world.
And, do remember that no-one is perfect, we all have bad days and when we want to give up but, overall, that’s just not who you or I are! We are what we do MOST of the time, not the momentary lapses.
Again, I so appreciate your honesty and look forward to hearing more of your comments in the future.
Sarah
Hello Sarah:
Well, you came through for me just at the right time! I have been following this “food plan” as I prefer to call it for four weeks. Events in my life were affecting me emotionally that were causing my thoughts to wander. I was close to going off track! You reminded me to not loose my focus! Just like the Olympic athletes!
What was it you ask? The people most dear to me–family, friends! Here I go again letting other people’s view of me influence my actions. I refer to it as O.P.’s influence.(Other People’s)
Any significant change in one’s life affects the people immediately around them more than I realized!
However, I am committed to do this as long as I feel so wonderful and energetic.
Can a Carnivore and a new Vegan co-exist cooperatively? I am about to find out! Forty-five years of marriage will hold strong.
I needed to think a bit before replying to your blog as you suggested,
Sarah. But I am glad I did.
Ruth MacLennan
Hi Ruth, I’m so happy to hear. I absolutely love the phrase O.P. influence and will start to use it :-)
It is interesting how quickly we realize our influence on others around us when we make a major diet shift. I have noticed it can even be often perceived as a threat! But done with tact, is definitely achievable, so I wish you the best of luck.
It was a pleasure to see you at the potluck, I only wish I had more time to speak with you, so I hope to see you at the next one as well.
Sarah