Saturday, March 14, 2015

You've Lost that Guilty Feeling



While fasting can leave you pretty exhausted, I try to find energy to do as many lectures as I can while I'm here. I know there is so much I need to learn in order to be able to carry on the lifestyle I need to carry on once I return home. The numerous lectures here at TrueNorth were definitely one of the aspects that attracted me to this facility. Not only am I fasting for my physical health while I am here, but I'm given multiple opportunities to address not only physical health needs, but mental health needs and environmental barriers that can cause difficulties when trying to transition to a new healthful lifestyle.

I try to ensure attendance at Dr. Lisle's lectures on Saturdays. You never know what direction the lectures will go, what topics there will be or what information you will be able to glean and apply to your life. Today's hot topic was: guilt. We've all felt it at some point and time. Some of us more than others. Dr. Lisle shared in his lecture that all feelings are a signal. We are genetically engineered for certain responses both physically and emotionally. Emotional signals are obviously more complicated than physical symptoms. If you step on a rock and it hurts your foot: you move your foot. Pretty simple physiological repsonse to pain. If you have a negative feeling, well, determining what your response should be can sometimes be a bit tricky.

People consistently walk a fine line between doing what's best for themselves and doing what's best for the "village"/humanity. Humans have an underlying genetic sense of fairness. When that sense is disrupted and people feel they are being treated unfairly, their genetic response is anger. On the other hand, if people perceive they've been unfair to others, they'll begin to feel guilt. Interestingly enough, each of us has an "internal" audience that gives us feedback. This feedback is designed to be an estimation of how an "external" audience will perceive us. This internal audience works to prepare us for a "real" audience. Each person has an esteem meter that is sensitive to feedback from both internal and external audiences. A person's internal audience can create guilt before an external audience even has a chance to pass a judgement.

Push yourself away from the table!!!
Exercise!!!
Just eat less!!!
Quit being so lazy!!!
How hard is it to give up soda/cigarettes/bad food?!!!

The problem with a person's internal audience is that audience is no more knowledgable or smarter than the external audience that is not made up of doctors or psychologists, etc. The internal audience becomes frustrated, disgusted and angry. Then the internal audience says: Bring on the guilt! And we do. We bring it on in spades. We beat ourselves up for being bad mothers, bad wives, bad employees, bad friends, etc. And then we guilty ourselves into believing we are bad at all of those things because we just don't have the willpower to do any better. We have no concept of "The Pleasure Trap" and no understanding of the fact that our bodies were never designed to deal with it. The Pleasure Trap is unfair. We need to fire our internal audiences. We need to understand the magnitude of the challenge before us and educate our internal audiences. Only then are we going to be able to free ourselves from the guilt that has unfairly been hung our necks like a thick heavy yoke.

More on The Pleasure Trap soon.

Today's Update:
Healing in progress!
DAYS FASTING: 3 (juice)/13 (water)
CURRENT MEDS: 0
AM BP: 102/69
PM BP: 116/74
WEIGHT: - 24.3 LBS
GENERAL WELLNESS: Aside from some pesky low back pain, muscle weakness and insomnia (all of which are normal during fasting), I'm feeling pretty good. I went to lecture this morning and I'm planning on attending a special event here tonight.

A little pic from today! Letting go of some guilt!



2 comments:

  1. I agree about the lectures. What an important tool to ensure your success when you leave that environment! Great one today!!

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