Food for Thought - Feeling deprived

[MajestyJo]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Feeling Deprived

If I allow myself to feel deprived, sooner or later I will overeat or react with negative emotions. I am a human being, a child of God with the same rights as all of His other children. I have needs and preferences, which, if denied and repressed, will surface in a destructive way.

If those around me are eating a special meal and I eat leftovers, which I do not particularly like, I will feel deprived. I may become bad tempered and I may overeat later to compensate. I do not need to have what others are eating, if it is not on my food plan, but my meal should be pleasing to me. I do not need to have and do what everyone else has and does, but I can recognize my desires and preferences and satisfy them when doing so does not injure anyone else.

By overeating, I deprived myself of good health, peace of mind, self-respect, and an attractive appearance. By abstaining, I am making amends to myself for the deprivation. By working the program, I am learning how to satisfy my legitimate needs.

I trust You to supply my needs.

[MajestyJo]

Over the years, I never realized how much harm I had done my body by not making healthy choices. In recovery, I am granted the freedom of choice, it is up to me to ignore the Inner Self, or follow it's lead and guidance.

I know what is good and what is not. I often joke and say, "Never did what was good for me for most of my life. Why start now?" What a defeatest attitude? It is the thinking behind the addiction that got me in trouble. How many times I said, "Oh what is the use? It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what I do, I do it wrong." That is the "I" taking charge of my life and not surrendering my addiction to my Higher Power. I can't do it by myself. It is only through surrendering, admitting my powerlessness and being honest with myself, am I empowered to do what I need to recover, one day at a time.

[schell08122008]

Thanks Jo, I can relate to this. I often regret the harm I have done to this God given body of mine. In recovery I have been learning to surrender my will to a higher power..I know if the obession to drink and use is removed on a daily basis so will the addictions in other areas of my life can be turned over by this same process, as long as I am willing to make a change. With these other areas, I am progressing slowly. Becoming aware of the harm of the addictions is a big part. Once I am aware, I can fully live in the present..a moment at a time right now. I become willing to begin to let go of what I know is harming me today. Willingness is coming slow..I become aware first then I can be present in the choices to begin the process of change. Peace Schell.

[MajestyJo]

Had to come to realize that a drug is a drug. It doesn't matter what shape or form it comes in. I always say, they come in liquid, solid, powdered and the flesh and blood variety. Anything, that comes between me and who my God would have me be in today. Anything that I am obsessive, compulsive about, qualifies as a drug even my computer.