Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Hey! Let Go of My Ego!

There is a strange thing that happens to some of us around the topic of health. The need to be right often replaces the truth. This can be dangerous. Simply put, there is a lot of erroneous information out there and people that are trying to improve their health can be easily mislead, if they have no prior experience or knowledge. For me there are many ways to the truth, because not everyone wants to live this way or that way. Not everyone wants to be vegan or eat raw foods, only. Some people just want to have a bit more energy or have a nicer skin tone. All reasons for seeking this lifestyle are valid and equally important. All desire to become healthy is the same. No one reason is better than the other.

I believe the need to be right emanates from a lack of true connection to what is being taught. If these educators really felt this within, they would not continually teach something they know doesn't work. The need to be right instead of advancing one's knowledge is a very large problem for humanity. Look at how distorted most religious teachings have become. Initially, all religions taught very similar ideas & concepts, using different words to describe the same things, experiences. They were developed to show people the truth about humanity. But the need to be right, based on a projection of a collective mind-set, was put in place of truth and therefore most people have been lead away from their individual power, therefore their collective power. Sounds like a great way to control the masses. Remember the church lady? "How convenient!" We use the word sin in this culture quite often and refer to people that live a certain way as sinners. This word has been so misused over the centuries that we now believe sin equals "breaking a sacred or holy law or vow," which is determined by the religion followed by that person or people. If you look into this word which appears in the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek. The word sin in Greek translates, quite simply in english, to "missing the mark." It is a sin to miss the point of humanity. Which means we are not separate from God. Some people died for saying or believing this. Some still do! What the hell does this have to do with health? Not a whole heck of a lot! It is however, a good example of how truth becomes shrouded in opinion or perspective or point of view. Which often leads to dogmatic thinking. This is exactly what I want to help everyone avoid. I gain nothing by sharing this information. My intention is to act like a traffic cop. To help direct you to a method that has worked for me and for many people I've had the pleasure to guide over the years. Being involved in the health and healing world I have had numerous experiences, which result in very similar ways. WHEN PEOPLE LIVE ACCORDING TO THESE BASIC PRINCIPLES, THEY CAN AND DO HEAL THEMSELVES!

When we become to attached to our beliefs or our need to be right, we simply do not learn, grow or advance our knowledge. Where does being right get anyone? Why not be open to all the possibilities. Here I am writing all this about the need to be right and I've not once written anything on the contrary to the same ideals and concepts. I consistently stress the importance of a healthy diet based on whole foods. I've also tried to show how cutting out many animal products can be very healthy, providing we do it correctly and know how to read the symptoms we may encounter as we begin to detoxify from abstaining from meat, dairy and all the products manufactured using these foods. The reason I am not supportive of these other diet or lifestyle choices is because THEY DON'T WORK. You see, what I am trying to share can be vied this way: the way of detoxification and healing is like an elevator and each of you may have a floor number already in mind. The building has twenty flights. The first floor is the standard american diet. The twentieth floor is a raw vegan diet. The first floor isn't better or worse than the twentieth or vice versa. It is simply different, for the purposes of this metaphor. (if this is in fact not a metaphor but an analogy, someone please educate me so I don't misuse this term and embarrass myself further) Each floor is available to all. Where ever you want to get off, you can. Like a bus stop or subway station. THERE ARE NO EXPRESS LINES HERE! Just local stops. Conversely, some of us use this new way of life as a means to better ourselves and somehow this gets tangled into their personality. Meaning, some folks use it as a way elevating their social status or to achieve some imaginary position of superiority or hipness. Ego has no place in this. This is a process we should use to find humility and get more in touch with our consciousness & our innate connection to the planet. Not our egos. There was a great ad in the back of exercise magazines in the seventies. The ad showed a "weakling" faced with a "bully," kicking sand in the "weaklings" face. "Tired of having sand kicked in your face?" The ad read. You get the picture. This way of life should bring peace and contentment to us. Not a competitive spirit or need to be better than others, simply because a choice was made to eat this and not that. Seems silly when we leave out the subjects (foods) but instead use the terms this or that? We should share, openly this good and real information. Create community, as we are still very much a minority in society. We, being those of us that seek to free ourselves of the bonds of industrialized medicine. Not to mention all the conflicting, mostly nonsensical, information printed in fashion magazines for both men and women, should rejoice in this new found, ancient approach to living. Health is more about feeling good than anything else. This however is relative to each individual and their personal history. One feels good often because there is nothing overt or acute happening to them. As long as most of us aren't "sick," we believe we feel good. What I'm trying to illustrate is, as we embark on a cleansing diet we see how much better we can feel. Then we begin to get the picture. Most people respond like this, "I simply didn't know I could feel THIS good!"

So let go of your ego, your old belief systems, your stubbornness or the need to be right. And don't forget to let go of your "Eggo" and pick up an apple. What have you got to lose but a couple of pounds and inches of your waistline? Adult acne? Low energy? The need for coffee every morning and again at four? I can go on and on here and often do. I find sharing these ideas and concepts with you fun and light. Even though, at first it may seem like I'm saying "this is the only way," it is not what I am trying to do at all. What I am trying to do is show you this world from A to Z. From the first floor to the twentieth and every floor between the two. As I have lived this way with much consistency for 15 years, I've learned one very important lesson.
(a major exaggeration.) But this one is huge! Never stay attached to any beliefs. Do what works for you, at your comfort level. Remember, there are so many ways to achieve your goals. This is a great quote I heard recently and of course cannot tell you the real source of the quote because I can't remember. The quote comes from a great teacher of one of the philosophies teaching paths to enlightenment. "A fool in his folly will eventually find enlightenment." Meaning, even the most obtuse approaches to things will eventually put you on the right path by experiencing the "wrong" approach, or the single mindedness and repetition of the task will bring enlightenment. What does enlightenment equal in the quest for health? It means the realization that human beings came from this planet and all the foods needed to support this evolving life form, were already here and don't need to be manufactured by man. Even if we consider creationism. Would God have created a species and its organ systems based on foods already available, which is quite plausible or would he base the organ systems of any species on the foods yet to be created by the species he, she or it hadn't even fully realized or created? We come from earth and our organs depict the category we fall into. The foods available to us, in our natural environment determine the evolutionary development over the seventy to one hundred thousand years the human being has been in existence. No other way is logical! Everything we need to survive and be healthy is here. No need to look in powders or potions or supplements for health. It's in the forests and grows everywhere there is soil and sunlight. Remember, the simplest answer is usually the right answer. I so didn't want to accept that one when I was attached to my complex ideas about this or that. But over time I saw that this way of complex thinking, where not needed, lead me to become myopic in my view and miss, to a great degree the point. I was a sinner in the truest sense of the word! All kidding aside, this way of life should bring us "back to basics." Lets turn over a new leaf! How about those green leaves we see in the supermarkets, everywhere? Take it slow. Love the moments, good and bad. BE HERE NOW. Experience your life now as you transform. Don't review it through a rear-view window. Life is here now, not in the past or future. As you seek to change your health keep in mind that without presence we never fully experience the beauty and simplicity of life. Simple works.
Be well.
Tom


2 comments:

  1. Cheers to simplicity and the elevator of life! Thanks for another great post Tom. You write like you're telling a story. Love it.

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Please feel free to comment or ask questions or challenge. All is welcome. All comments will be responded to politely! Be well. Tom DeVito