There are a lot of people that do not like reading books, but I bet that there is one book that everybody has read- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. There are a couple quotes from that book that are always alive in my mind. Today I was walking and thinking about something when this quote from the book popped up in my mind:
‘What are you doing here?’ he said to the drunkard whom he found sitting silently in front of a collection of bottles, some empty and some full. ‘
I am drinking,’ answered the drunkard lugubriously.
‘Why are you drinking?‘ the little prince asked.
‘In order to forget,’ replied the drunkard.
‘To forget what?‘ enquired the little prince, who was already feeling sorry for him.
‘To forget that I am ashamed,‘ the drunkard confesed, hanging his head. ‘Ashamed of what?‘ asked the little prince who wanted to help him. ‘Ashamed of drinking!’ concluded the drunkard, withdrawing into total silence.
And the little prince went away, puzzled. ‘Grown-ups really are very, very odd,’ he said to himself as he continued his journey.’
And what this has to do with proper food choices you’d ask? Well, have you noticed most people that are extremely overweighed. What do you see about them? Just how big they look on the outside? Is that all you can say? Haven’t you noticed the saddness in their eyes? The pain? Sometimes the way we look can be misleading. You’d think they are so big, because they indulge to all of their food cravings…but is it really that way? Just like the drunkard that the Little Prince met, people often try to bury their pain,fears and insecurity somewhere deep inside, masking them with something else…either it will be drinking alchohol,coffee, eating or something else. It is just a try to run away from what scares us….what overwhelms us…
Sometimes when our pain and fears oppress us…when we try to avoid them, keeping them hidden somewhere deep…they just eat us from the inside…and we desperately try to feel the holes with something…and most often we turn to stuffing ourselves with food… But is this really the solution to our problems. Does this solve them? Or it just adds up to them? You are feeling overwhelmed and you rеаch for that pizza or the cookies…you feel a moment of pleasure and then go back to reality where you feel twice more depressed than you were before… now you have one more problem-your addicion to food… your expectation that food will be your best buddy…that it will carry you through the hardships… but that is not what happens! Friends give you comfort, without leading to slavory. And food brings a momentum of comfort,just to spin you in an enchanted circle of regret and self-pitty.
Next time when you feel sad…when something offends you…instead of going to the supermarket and grabbing all the food you can carry, just to end up eating it…hoping that you will feel better…STOP burying your hopes and dreams under layers of fat! Just face the problems. Ask yourself what makes you happy. Leave your doubts and just dash at your dreams…fulfill your aspirations…and you won’t need food for comfort on the path! All you’ll need is your heart, motivation and the vision of what you truely want to become.
