Life lessons

I learn something new everyday, whether that be a new word in a different language or I become aware of certain things I do that I had never noticed before. Life is full of lessons and I have had a few this week. 

The first lesson I have learned is that I have been excluding myself from so many social situations that it has partly fuelled those lonely times when I just needed a friend. The reason is because of my lifestyle. 

80/10/10 aka raw veganism has changed my life incredibly in the 2 years I've known about it. I changed my diet, changed my beauty routine, changed my goals, job, even friends and this is great, BUT I have also excluded friends and family from my life and missed out on events that I would normally love to attend. I have avoided situations because I thought that these people were no longer relevant in my life because they don't eat the same as me. 

What a fool! 

I don't have anyone to blame but myself. How can I follow a so called compassionate lifestyle trying to bring balance and harmony to myself through what I eat and what I practice, yet I cut myself off from the majority of the world?! Sure I need to love myself first before I can love anyone else, but I also need to love EVERYONE and not just the minority that follow my lifestyle. And let's face it, the raw food movement is full of anger, bitterness, backstabbing, jealousy, greed and hypocrisy right now so we're not "better" than anyone else. 

Love man no matter what, for most of them are still sleeping and do not know any better. One day we will no longer be animals, we will realise our potential as spiritual beings. 

The second lesson I have learned is regarding food. I am a binge eater. I am a thoughtless eater and I am greedy. It's not really a new lesson though because I've always known this, it's just recently I have become increasingly aware of what I am doing. It's as if I am deliberately trying to make myself sick and I think subconsciously I am, so that I can learn how to break my food addiction and realise that it is absolutely ridiculous to plan everything in my life around food. And yes, you can be addicted to all foods, not just cooked ones, which I broke the addiction for last year! 

This is a third lesson. I am living for food. My travels are solely planned around food and the raw food lifestyle has encouraged these bad habits. I've listened to people who say "you need to get in the calories", "carb up", "fat makes you fat", etc. Again I only have myself to blame. I eat until I am stuffed, I eat when I think I should (because of school, jobs, etc we have to eat when we're given the free time) and I eat when I desire it, not when I am hungry. Eg say I eat a fruit meal of melon and I see durian but I'm not hungry, I'll still eat the durian. 

As I cycled to yet another fruit market I questioned my sanity. Why am I cycling around Bangkok for fruit? Why am I not submerging myself in local culture or history? I haven't seen one gallery, museum or performance in Bangkok. Last year I visited 2 temples and the rest of the time was spent shopping in the malls or hunting down fruit. 

I have spent so much money in Rasayana, it's not even funny. I have used so much time eating when I'm not necessarily hungry and where does it all go?! Down the toilet. Essentially I'm flushing money away down the toilet! 

I don't believe we need to eat as much as we are told to, especially on a raw food diet, the fact that were eating nature's candy is enough for our bodies, but the more we eat the more stress we put on ourselves. Of course my aim isn't to be an athlete, but I don't want to live my life for food. Food is medicine after all. Let's use it wisely. 

To wrap this up I want to thank one particular person from my hostel. Matthew was so open, friendly, welcoming and kind to me (and everyone else) when I met him, despite our differences in lifestyle choices he's showed me there's more to life than what we eat. I have enjoyed listening to his background (and boy what a life he's had!) and have had a good laugh. It doesn't matter what you eat, it's about what you do with your life and how you interact with people. Sure watching someone eat a dead animal has its downside, but it's no fun to constantly exclude yourself because of it. At least that's what I've discovered recently. 

We may think differently about food, but life experiences are of greater value. Plus you never know who you will influence :)