Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Food for Thought: August 15th

Inner Tigers

What we fear facing and dealing with is often inside. We may transfer our fear and irritation to external circumstances and the people around us, when what we need to do is look inside. Usually, we are our own worst enemy.

Our fears go back to a time when we were very young and relatively helpless. We may still be afraid of rejection, of being inferior, of being hurt with no one to take care of us. We may have an irrational fear of economic insecurity, which comes from a time when we were aware of financial problems but were too young to understand them.

Whether our inner tigers are real or made out of paper, we need to face them instead of eating to appease them. As we recover from compulsive overeating, many of the fears, which we had tried to bury with food, come to consciousness. With the Power greater than ourselves, we are able to tame the inner tigers.

Secure in Your care, may I not fear self-discovery.

From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation.

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What compulsive overeater doesn't know about eating to appease the inner fears that run wild within us?  Excess food gives the illusion of 'comfort' when in fact, it creates more problems than it cures. Such is the nature of addiction.

If I am suffering from financial instability, will excess food put money in my wallet?  If I am suffering from insecurity or fear within my marriage, will excess food give me courage or a guarantee of security?

No.  In reality, eating excess food will worsen my fears & render me incapable of dealing with the problems that face me.  Living in a food coma blurs reality, and shrouds it in fear & illusion.  In order to make some permanent changes, I have to straighten up my thoughts & start facing the reality of the situation.  Through prayer & meditation I can hand my worries over to God and allow Him to bear them for me. 

Through abstinence, I clear up my muddled thinking so I can ditch the fear & start doing the footwork to change, from the inside out.

For today, I will not dwell in fear, no matter how worrisome my life situation appears to be. For today, I will have faith that God is behind me, every step of the way, and whatever adversity I seem to be facing, He has my back.  All I have to do is the footwork, allowing Him to do the rest.

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