JEDSpeak: Why?

I'm on a journey to find health and happiness through a more holistic and green lifestyle.

I find the world to be abrasive. =) That is to say, I feel the need to armor myself, physically and emotionally, in order to face life. Don't we all? Maybe. For whatever reason, it has become a priority in my life to rid my immediate environment of irritating things. And I'm sensitive! So there is much work to be done. But. I have thought for a long time that the things I come in contact with every day, and the stuff used to clean and maintain these things, need to be gentle and non-toxic. I have had eczema my entire life. For a long time I just dealt with it, and accepted that sometimes it's bad, and sometimes it's not, and that it will fluctuate a lot. Gradually over time I have come to find that certain things, fabrics, cleansers, materials, are more irritating to my skin than others. Stress can exacerbate it. In more recent times, I have realized that every aspect of my life improves when I improve conditions for my skin. Hah! What a concept! Thus my (long time) interest in going green, and my more recent desire to live a more holistic lifestyle. (I think I've felt a desire for a long time to live in a harmonious way with myself, my surroundings, and nature, but didn't have a name for it.) Anyhow, this blog is a journal of my trials and errors, and basic crooked path to find a balanced and peaceful existence for myself and my family. Thanks for your interest! I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Why?

Why do we crave things that aren't good for us? Why do we know we need exercise, but sit on the couch instead? Why do we stay in when getting out in the sun makes us feel so much better? Why??

Animals eat what they need. (Fat cats and dogs notwithstanding) As I write this, I am eating, and feeding my poor children, easy cheese on crappy crackers. Ugh. Yesterday I had a hummus sandwich on whole grain bread with artichokes, onion, and other totally healthy things. I have a theory that often times very healthy foods simply don't give the full feeling that crap does. For example, after eating my (tasty) healthy sandwich, I could not stop eating my daughter's seasoned french fries. I had eaten plenty, but I compulsively put one fry after the other in my mouth. Eeks! What's up with that?? And at night, almost every night, I eat junk food while sitting on the couch. Now these days hubby and I have been doing Wii workouts before sitting on the couch eating crap, but that doesn't change the fact that the crap junk food is involved in my typical evening routine. So why doesn't the fact that I KNOW it is making me feel like crap, and doing bad things to my body change my behavior? Why are people in general so bad to themselves in that way? And why is it typical of people, and not, say, squirrels? Doesn't the fact that we can think about how to take good care of ourselves help us? Or would we be better off with instinct only?

We sometimes think that convenience is more important than health. But in the long run poor health becomes very inconvenient indeed. But we have to be forced to do the right thing so much of the time.

Why? Why are we reluctant to realize that our moods probably have as much to do with what we eat as with anything else that's going on in our lives? Why are we so clueless about ourselves, but about most other things we think we know it all? Why is it so hard to take care of ourselves the "right" way? Why don't we want to get out and run when we are feeling run down and imbalanced? Why don't we crave spinach when we're iron or vitamin poor instead of milkshakes? Why?

Why? Why when we know these things or have gained an awareness of what we need to do to feel good do we still choose poor options? Why? Why can't it be natural to do the right thing? Why is there ever another option in our minds?

Sighs.