Food for Thought: May 25th

  Delayed Gratification

One of the advantages of maturity is the ability to delay gratification of desires and needs. It is this ability, which makes possible the achievement of long-range goals and plans. We compulsive overeaters have permitted childish demands for immediate satisfaction to drive us into addictive habits. We still have some emotional growing up to do.

When we come to the OA program, we accept a reasonable plan for the gratification of our appetite and hunger. We know that we will eat three times a day, and we choose our food. As our appetite adjusts to eating smaller amounts less frequently, we may experience some discomfort. As maturing individuals, we can accept this discomfort in the interest of a healthier, more attractive body and a saner, more peaceful mind. Instead of having to have what we want now, this minute, we are able to wait until the appropriate time.

Working the Steps makes us aware of the emotional growing we need to do in order to have more satisfying relationships with other people. Here, too, we often have to delay immediate satisfaction in order to achieve larger, more important goals.

I pray for emotional and spiritual maturity. 

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"Childish demands for immediate satisfaction"...........is what drove me into addictive habits!  If I had a craving, it had to be satisfied immediately. No waiting, I wanted what I wanted and I wanted it NOW.

When I delay my gratification of desires, I learn self-discipline & act like an adult.  When I first started restricting my food intake 4 years ago, I did experience quite a bit of discomfort.  I felt hunger and that made me anxious & angry.  I'd sometimes stamp my feet like a 4 year old, raging against the tides that I couldn't have what I wanted.

Then I'd remind myself of an important fact: No matter how much I ate, I'd never BE satisfied, so what was the point in getting started??????

That is what kept me on track with my food plan: the knowledge that my appetite was a bottomless pit of 'want'.  

Today, as a mature adult, I accept the discomfort that occasionally strikes me.  In return, I maintain a sane mind, and a healthy, attractive body.  If I choose to indulge in food I do not need, I trade my peace of mind for a childish tantrum.

For today, I pray for continued emotional & spiritual growth.  I pray for the maturity to separate my wants from my needs, and to focus on God's plan for me, rather than my own.