Seeking Balance -- sometimes it's not that easy

Gretchen, at The Happiness Project, brought up the discussion of opportunity costs today in her post.  It seems to resonate with the idea of discernmentI pick up this weekend from Dancing with the Dream.

Gretchen describes opportunity costs as When a resource (like time or money) is scarce, taking advantage of one opportunity means forgoing another opportunity.  And by this definition, we are talking about deciding between two good options.

So when you are using your resources to be more mindful of your eating, it is costing you the luxury of eating however and whatever you want without a care in the world.  Both of these eating styles have their merit and have their place in life.

The question then rounds back to discernment.  Discernment is being able to make a judgement about what it is you really want.  Sometimes, all I want is to sit on the couch, veg and eat something extremely salty -- yum!  But if I was doing that night after night, that would no longer be discernment, it would just be a calorically expensive habit.

On the other hand, my mom complains that all the "good food/bad food" labelling and dissection that goes on, has taken much of the joy out of eating the foods she grew up on since now she knows that the lard, bacon grease, and highly refined sugar (used in some of the best dishes I have ever eaten) are not "good" for her.  So, hyper-mindfulness can also be a problem.

So all of that being said, what it comes back down to (as with so many other things -- perhaps it is even the eternal quest of life?) is balance.  Balancing the needs of the moment with the needs of a lifetime.  Balancing rest, ease and peace with the action necessary to create a life full of health and happiness.  Being able to take the long view and still see what's right in front of you.

Eating is just one example in a life choke full of examples of things needing balance.

The Gratitude Diet

A friend and client recently returned from a trip to Africa.  He was there on family business (so it wasn't a touristy, safari kind of trip)   As we talked about his trip, he inspired me to cultivate more gratitude in my life.

He said in the area he visited, a good many of the people were really happy with their standard of living -- but then added that their standard of living (that they are ecstatic about) is much much below ours (which some of us are pretty blase about).  Sure, we have it tough.  Many of us are still doing everything we can in tough economic times, just to stay in our home -- but our home is a 2800 sq. ft. house with a swimming pool and 3 car garage.  We've had to cut back and turn in our leased Lexus but we're still driving a new Impala.  Not exactly roughing it in the grand world scheme of things.

He continued to talk about his trip, the food, his hotel.  All of it made me think how much I take for granted in a day.  I turn on my tap and clean water comes out.  I might not like how it tastes -- or that it leaves a rust ring on my tub -- but I won't die from drinking it.

And what about the food I eat?  How much gratitude do I experience each day when I open up the fridge and look inside?  Sure, there are times when I am so hungry that I am truly real-time grateful for what I am eating -- but compared to the amount of eating I do -- what is that percentage of time???

And what if that is how I arranged my world?  What if I worked on only eating what I was grateful for?  How many doughnuts, Twix at 3 in the afternoon, sodas as big as my head, and that one last slice of pizza would I leave uneaten, if I stopped eating when I could no longer summon gratitude for the bite I was about to put in my mouth?

Much like most of us could live in a smaller house than we do and be just fine -- much like most of us could drive a less-nice car than we do and be just fine -- most of us could eat a great deal less food (putting us more in line with the volume much of the world eats) and be just fine .... if we wanted to and if we tried.

Today

The one fact that I would cry from every housetop is this: the Good Life is waiting for us – here and now. B.F. Skinner

Getting to where you want to go in this life is a journey – What are you doing about it today?

Are you one of those people that live for your body of the future? You will be happy when _____ happens?

What about today? What decision are you going to make today that will help you on your road to reaching your goal weight? Can you leave 8 bites of lunch on your plate or forego the day-old doughnut in the break room?

Execute 3 positive decisions today about your food consumption. It is not about what you can deprive yourself of – it is about leaving things uneaten that do not add value to your life.

Just do what you can do today – the good life is here and now. Tomorrow you can think about what you can do tomorrow.