Be aware that what I wrote below is not how my life is. It's my thoughts on how my life should be. So, read it like a goal, an affirmation, a dream that may be realized. Thank you for understanding.
I begin not with eating, but in
learning to think of eating as that necessity- potentially, a joyous
necessity- between all the hours of doing else.
“What will
I eat?” is actually something we were told not to ask. Now, let us
be reasonable. Does that mean we can't say “What should we buy from
the store?” or “Where should we have lunch?” or “Am I more
in the mood for … or …?” No. It means, in one sense, that if
you serve God, He will make provision for you so put faith in Him
that your needs will not be forgotten. Yet, in a lesser sense, it
also means that eating is not what life is about.
A method by
which to make a firm beginning to living a life of greater simplicity
is to get one's eating, and all things associated with it, in order.
What sort of order?
Here is my order:
I
choose to primarily eat a combination of fresh raw or cooked fruits
and vegetables, with possibly some frozen cooked vegetables and
fruits included, along with rice, beans (fresh, frozen or canned)
and, if desired, occasional meat, fish, fowl or eggs. Anything
outside of these things and the spices to steer them by is not
verboten, but it is rarely taken in.
Which is to say, I
might, on occasion, get a loaf of bread, a tin of tea, a box of
crackers, a deli sandwich, a soda, etc. But, in the majority I eat in
such a way that I need to visit only a small section or two of the
store, at all, and most of the time just the one section, where the
produce is.
This cuts out so much thinking about food and
time in obtaining and preparing it, and the time lost in suffering
over wrong choices. It also makes wash up so much quicker and easier.
Food storage is easier and less costly. How? Most of it –
beans, grains, spices- goes in one small cupboard. I buy them in
bulk. Fruit that is packed in its own juices or just sugar and water
are also part of the mix. The rest are obtained every few days, which
means I go to the grocery store more often, but I need to store much
less and can have a small refrigerator or an ice chest for those few
things, if needed.
How is it simpler to go to the store more
often? First of all, because, I utilize less of the store and each
trip takes so much less time that going to the store two or three
times in a week would be less time consuming than going the once and
eating processed foods.
Second of all, when I go to the
store, I walk. So, this is my exercise, possibly Vitamin D gathering
along the way, and I walk with others when I can, so it is also
socialization. If I were going to a gym, it would take at least as
much time, then I'd have to go to the store after and spend more
time. This way, I am receiving exercise and input and achieving my
end goal.
Third of all, we return to the top: eating is what
is done, primarily for fuel I should hasten to add, in between all
the hours of doing else. When I say I shop every few days, that
means at maximum.
I eat when I am hungry. I drink when I am
thirsty. When I am hungry, if it is needed, I go to the store to get
food to prepare a meal. I cook what I have purchased, or have on
hand (perhaps in combination) and then it is an enjoyable experience
that is over, except for the washing up.
I might share this
meal with someone else, which makes it easier not to have leftover.
Or, I might cook for them at their place and share a meal with them
and not even have a trip to the store. If I know a like-minded
person I might even make them a deal that they go one trip and we
share a meal and the next time I am ready to go, we share another
meal. At least the next time we are both in sync on wanting to eat.
So, less space, less waste, more energy, more time, more
social connection. All by looking at eating in its proper place: an
aside, pleasant as it can be to indulge in, to a much fuller life.
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