This was the quote in my daily planner/quote book today: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”–Plato
Yesterday’s was: ”The more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be.” Gawain.
To which I wrote: Food will NEVER make your life feeel full. If you are thinking that food will ease whatever is on your mind; try serving others. Fill your soul, not your belly. We are doing another Nashville flood repair this weekend; people are… moving in their houses and we are planting trees, flowers, mulching…
Well, I just got home from the few hours spent helping a woman who was total stranger to me yesterday but today; I feel like my family grew by one. The house that my kids and I were assigned to work at (service project through my church, the amazing www.CrossPoint.tv and my Pastor Blake–truly saved me, but that’s another story) belongs to woman named Diane. We really didn’t do alot of work today, Diane and her husband are just about ready to move in but we picked up some debris still left from the May flood here in Nashville, trimmed a few shrubs but the impact of today will forever be with me.
As we pulled into the neighborhood, twenty of us in our nice trucks, SUVs and bottled water…there to help, to serve..to work hard…parked our cars…NO ONE was home. Literally. One entire street had houses without siding or windows, yards over grown with grass and weeds and no one there…house after house. It was eerily quiet. Got back in our cars and went one street over, a few houses had activity, signs of coming back to live and returning to normal; but only at a few of the houses.
Nashville sort of got overlooked in this tragedy. Perhaps its because the people affected by the flood didn’t complain very loudly, their neighbors pitched in and helped and quietly, one house at a time the areas impacted are slowly and quietly coming back to life?
But Diane’s story probably isn’t the only one, but it’s the only one that I know and I feel compelled to share it with you. After we were done working, I sat down next to Diane on her porch and said “I bet you are glad to be back home!” and she responded that they weren’t home yet, would be moving in after a few more weeks–apparently the bank and the insurance companies aren’t done with their paperwork even though little was covered…so they remain in a rented room with the little bit of furniture they have managed to buy to replace EVERYTHING they owned being swept away by the flood.
Tragic. I asked her about her neighbors, as I had overheard her talking to someone about the eldery couple, Andy and Martha who lived next door to her for 35 years–and who raised 6 children in their 3 bedroom home that they purchased in 1952. I heard her saying that she said goodbye to them as she and her husband drove away fleeing the rising water; Andy and Martha were waiting for one of their sons to pick them up. They hugged and said “See you soon neighbor.”
The flood waters rose more rapidly than anyone anticipated or imagined. Andy and Martha’s son was in one of the many cars trapped on a local highway and he was turned away from the neighborhood when hours later he finally got there. Days later as the water receeded Andy and Martha were found on their couch holding hands.
That explained the yellow flower covered cross on the front porch of the house next door to Diane that I had noticed when we pulled up and started “helping”. I had assumed someone’s pet might have been lost in the flood and they had buried it there in the yard. Sadly, the cross was from Andy and Martha’s memorial service and had been placed there as a reminder of all that had been lost in the flood.
Plato was very wise, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. I can’t imagine the battle the people are fighting who lost their homes and belongs to the flood. I had a house fire a few years ago and it seems so insignificant comparered to what I learned today. Looking back, the energy wasted on dieting all these years, the obsession with food–what would my life be like today if I spent it differently? What would yours be like if you spend your energy differently than you have in the past from now on? We are all fighting our own personal battles each and every day of life and I don’t have all the answers, in fact I don’t have A good answer as to why life involves suffering, pain and sadness…but I have learned that life can involve such joy and such happiness too.
Years ago, my typical Saturday would have involved a trip to Starbucks, a scone, maybe some shopping….lunch….a night out to a fancy restaurant and an underlying obsession with calories, pounds, size…you know, a “diet”. Funny but in those days, I weighed over 100 lbs more than I do today.
Today, I haven’t had breakfast yet–and it’s 11 AM, trust me, I am headed in the kitchen to make my daily protein shake because I need it, but I am not thinking about food.
I am grateful for the many blessings in my life, I am so thankful to know that Jesus walks with me every step I take every where that I go. I have no idea where it is that I am going, but for the first time in my life, I am really loving the journey.
I know my “job” isn’t to preach but rather to teach about weight loss, dieting and how to get healthier but I just can’t sit here today and tell you to eat healthfully and that will solve your weight issue. I think the problem with “dieting” is it only focuses on the food, I focus on YOU!! Sure, food and what you eat is part of the solution if we want to end obesity but I think if we really want to change, to lose weight and improve our lives you have to look past the scale and get deeper and into what really matters; YOU and how you live.
You were not put on this Earth to diet, you were put on this Earth, and were provided with foods that make up a healthy human “diet” so that you can LIVE a life that fills your soul. Life is not about filling your belly with garbage but rather about filling your life, your heart and your soul with substance.
Meeting Diane, spending some time with her, with my children and with my fellow church members has filled me today more than any food ever has in 48 years of food obsession. I get it, finally. Thank you God.
I hope you get it too. And if you like the idea that MY diet is all about you, get started today. It’s free. I am not selling you anything, thankfully God took care of that part and provided me with people who want to make a difference in the World as much as I do, so thanks to the generousity of the owner of PGX, you get my entire 26-week program free. That’s pretty awesome if you think about it. One act of generousity that can actually help you lead the life of your dreams…in the body you desire. What do YOU have to lose? www.ViceBustingDiet.com
Julia
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