Here’s the crux of an email exchange I had with a
reader the other day, that raises some common
questions:
Vincent:
“I was reading about what, when, and how
to eat and learned to eat naturally. If
you want to take multivitamins, what does
Wattles say about that?”
Me:
Mr. Wattles doesn’t address this question,
since vitamins had not been discovered at
the time he wrote the book.
But my translation is that you should do
whatever you believe a healthy person
would joyfully do, or whatever you believe
YOU should do.
Your actions should match your beliefs.
The caveat is not to do things because of
fear of what might happen if you didn’t do
them, and not to do anything you don’t
want to do for the sole purpose of being
healthy. It’s all about the “why.”
Vincent:
” I want to take multivitamins because
the average American doesn’t receive
enough vitamins and minerals while
native tribes, as mentioned by Dr. Price
in his book, have diets that have 4 – 10x
the recommended amount of vitamins.
“I guess this is borderline ‘doing
something just to be healthy.’ But at the
same time, many of the vitamins in
multivitamins are synthetic, which are
unnatural and fall into the category of
what we shouldn’t eat. As a college student,
I am trying my best to eat natural foods.
“Would that effort be enough in itself?”
Me:
Effort is not the key. In fact, it’s
counterproductive. Cooperation with the
All Powerful doesn’t feel like effort.
In my view, the secret to health lies in
one’s relationship with the All That Is.
When that relationship is thriving, you
won’t be worrying about lack and trying to
micromanage your nutrient intake.
WHY you do what you do, and HOW you do it
matter more than WHAT you do.
Vincent does a good job of illustrating the dilemma of
so many people who want to be well! Can you relate? He
invites responses in several directions, but for now
let’s focus on the question of our reasons of why we do
what we do.
For example, have you heard people say that the human
body did not evolve to handle all the toxicity present
in our environment, or to handle processed food?
That the soil is depleted, and even “organic” food
can’t be trusted?
That the earth itself is suffering or falling apart?
Do you notice the focus on lack, negativity, fear, and
resistance in those ideas? Even if you eat “healthy
foods,” if you are paying attention to these beliefs,
you are taking the benefit out of your actions.
How about if we challenge those beliefs, and create
some different images as our reasons for doing what we
do?
For example, I find this idea that somehow the human
body has not evolved in the last 10,000 years more than
a little odd. It’s pretty fear-based, from my
perspective.
To think that the human body, perhaps the most complex
organism on the planet, is still prehistoric, while
every phone and computer has new iterations every few
months, and updates every few days, just seems absurd
to me.
When you understand that your body is not just
physical, but has an enormous non-physical aspect that
really runs the show, I think it’s utterly ridiculous
to conclude that it’s so far out of date.
What if you were to let go of that depressing concept
and instead know that your body is continuously being
created anew, upgrading every nanosecond, and is the
very essence of adaptive to your every thought, to
every condition and circumstance.
You don’t live in a neanderthal body. You live in a
brand new, continuously evolving and adapting body.
Does that mean you should thumb your nose at all
nutritional advice and now feel justified in eating
nothing but what you would call “junk food?”
That’s another question entirely. The idea that “it
doesn’t matter what you eat” is not so far from saying
that you have no impact, no power in your own life.
My point here is the WHY that drives your choices.
Do you eat what you eat because of your belief in lack
or your belief in abundance? Your belief in suffering
or thriving? Your focus on fear or joy?
I’m a big fan of supporting and practicing beliefs that
feel empowering, uplifting, joyful, expansive. I think
it’s a good idea to focus on what we love, appreciate,
and want more of.
My idea of the best reason for choosing a particular
diet is that it’s yummy, exciting, feels good in your
wonderfully adaptive body, feels full of life, is fun
and uplifting to participate in–even from a
distance–from the happy soil, happy insects and worms,
happy plants, happy birds, happy animals, happy farmers
… all the way to a happy you and me.
Whenever you find yourself thinking about fearful,
stressful reasons for eating a certain way, see if you
can find reasons that feel better–even if it means
just plain ignoring what you’ve been told are “facts.”
Really, try eating for fun, joyful reasons alone, and
see what happens!
Your thoughts?