Food for Thought: July 18th

Don't Jump

When we have achieved a significant period of abstinence from compulsive overeating, it is as though we have slowly climbed many flights of stairs all the way up to the top floor of a skyscraper. Telling ourselves that we will make a small exception and break abstinence just one time is like saying we will jump out a window on the top floor of the skyscraper and fall down only as far as the next floor.

The nature of our disease is such that one small compulsive bite inevitably leads to eventual disaster. We may be able to postpone the binge for a day or a week or even longer, but once we give up our control, we put ourselves in a pattern of downward descent.

All we need do in order to stay on the top floor of the skyscraper is to maintain our abstinence. A small price to pay for such a magnificent view!

Protect me from a fatal jump.

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

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I compare taking that first compulsive bite to jumping into a deep, dark pit without a ladder, wondering if I'll be able to somehow get OUT of there!

It's true that the first bite inevitably leads to eventual disaster. I may be able to postpone the binge for a while, but once I give up my control, I totally lose control sooner or later.  I weaken my commitment by saying Yes instead of No.  And, once I've said Yes the first time, it's way easier to KEEP saying Yes.  Conversely, when I practice saying No Thank You, it gets easier & easier to KEEP saying No Thank You.  Food loses its power over me, and abstinence prevails.

For today, I realize that all I need to do in order to stay on the top floor of the skyscraper with the magnificent view is maintain my abstinence Just for today.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn't here yet.  So for the next 24 hours, I will practice saying No Thank You.  There is a potluck brunch at my office this morning, and I will avoid LOOKING at the buffet table.  There is no point in even considering the junk food that will be presented. If I don't see it, it does not exist.

For today, I will put abstinence FIRST in my life!