They’re two things that create some problems for me. Let’s break it down:
- Food: necessary, of course, but easy to overdue when you feel unhappy. I tend to overeat when I don’t have faith in myself or the future. The food acts as an anesthetic that covers up (pain) and stimulates some sort of feelings of comfort. Then guilt and discomfort set in, followed by fatness, and eventually, more depression. It’s a body-mind challenge, and a hard one, too because there is all sort of cultural, societal and other influence on how and what we eat. Eating guidelines are important to have but hard to follow.
- Alcohol: something I’ve never really been partial to (didn’t really drink much until my 20s) and still aren’t that crazy about. But I continue to drink it everyday. Granted, it takes off the edge of the day but it too slows me down and depending on my mood, aggravates the hell out of me. Then I have another one. I’m drinking because I feel I have to and that’s just plain wrong.
Food and alcohol are meant to be enjoyed and when there’s no atmosphere or circumstance to enjoy them, they become crutches (alcohol more so since we need food to survive).
I like them in good company, when they aren’t the focus and when there are many other things going on that make life interesting.