My First Noble Truth

It is my hope to create a dialogue about health, nutrition, mindfulness, love, relationships, patience, listening and understanding. Please feel free to contact me by email for any comments or questions you may find along the way.
This poster spoke to me during college, when I was just beginning to "find myself." Each year when I moved, I would hang this print as a reminder that if I practiced moderation and balance I would succeed at life without rushing through it. If I worried less, living for the present moment, I could enjoy myself more. The more I enjoyed myself, & some nights the more I worried, the less I slept, and that in turn led to what we call the freshman 15. It was my desire for balance that I made the commitment to have a healthier lifestyle and I realized that using an hour of sleep could make all the difference. See a related article in the Washington Post.

In a single line it says, "Those who slept the least were the biggest drinkers." This wasn't a shock to me, since I sleep very lightly after a night of drinks, waking dehydrated and sluggish. In the theory of Chinese Medicine these are symptoms of dampness and heat. Out of the six pathogenic factors to invade your body (the other four being wind, cold, dryness and summerheat), the combination of these two is the most difficult to clear from one's system. It may affect digestion, energy, clarity of thought, emotions, and the skin, among other disorders.

I don't believe there are any true benefits to drinking either. I've considered how alcohol enhances my life but at the same time I can't help but feel like it does more harm, especially long term. Not only can excessive consumption lead to addiction, impaired judgement, vomiting, weight gain, cirrhosis, brain damage, cancer and accidental death, but it has been shown to affect menstrual issues and cause infertility-in women and men. Maybe it's the lack of social interaction I've experienced lately but it surprises me that intelligent, respectful, active and beautiful people frequently choose to participate in this self-destructive behavior. It surprises me more that I feel obligated to do it with them to the point of excess.

If you're reading this and thinking about how we drank together before and I seemed to enjoy myself wholeheartedly, it's true that this is somewhat of a new epiphany for me (as recently as this morning). It won't be an easy change but I like the challenge. I believe alcohol plays a different role for everyone and it is of considerable value to explore your own habits and goals to be proactive. I'd like to be someone that can still maintain relationships without having to justify my choice or give an excuse like "I'm driving." I think I'll just start telling people I'm pregnant. I'll enjoy champagne or wine on special occasions like weddings, birthdays and celebrations with loved ones but I won't let it control my weekends anymore.

There is a reason it's called an inTOXICant and another reason we call the largest and heaviest internal organ in our body the LIVEr. Life is truth~why would I lie to myself and spend my free time drunk in a transient reality that has given me one chance to do it right?

Achieving balance is not an easy task. It's about avoiding the extremes and working on your strengths when you encounter weaknesses, or pulling back when you realize something is unnecessary. We are not often in a state of balance but we can strive for it. It is the relationship of yin and yang, which can be found anywhere, as in the thread of life and death that the author of the Tao Te Ching describes.