Friday, July 17, 2009

The Malnourishment of the Contented Soul

I recently read a series of interviews in an article regarding long-term relationships, marriage or otherwise, and the various thoughts on how keep the long-term just that. My eyes grazed across the word 'nourish', and saw it as a continuing theme throughout the article. It made enough sense: Fail to give any living organism the nourishment it needs to survive and surely it will die. Similarly, neglect to nourish your relationship with what it needs and it, too, will slowly perish.

As I read on my brow furrowed at the thought of just how unnecessary malnourishment truly is... in relationships, work, health... mind, body, soul. Everything. This lack of nourishment in life is preventable, yet still remains a chronic problem. Why is that? Is life just too hard to deal with such a seemingly simple task? Besides, who wants to wither like a dried out plant, anyway?

Such self-destructive behavior is puzzling and angering when we see it in others.

Yet, we all do it:

we work too much

we don't feel great, but ignore symptoms of illness, forget to schedule a doctor's appointment or figure we'll 'get around to it'

we stop kissing, hugging, holding hands or even having sex with our significant other

we really do forget to feed the plants

love becomes a word, not an action anymore

we order fast food instead of cooking

we take the people we love for granted

we don't wash the car, the house, the clothes

we sleep in instead of getting up for a morning workout

we (maybe) drink too much...

Then, one day, we stop... for whatever reason... and we take a good look around:


the house is a mess
the plants are dead
we're fat and weak
we're sick
we're alone
we are sad

We are starving.

This is the point where choice comes in. You could a) decide that you will nourish yourself back to a wonderful & fulfilling life one drop at a time or b) turn off the light, turn on the tv and forget you saw anything at all.

Choice a) takes time, work, sacrifice and consistent nourishment.
Choice b) is easier, lazier, unhealthy and selfish.

I believe in change. I believe in forgiveness of ourselves and of one another. I believe in recovery and most of all & with all my heart, I believe we were created to live a wonderful and fulfilling life.


Nourish yourselves...

Live a wonderful and fulfilling life...

Choose a).

2 comments:

Tanner Glass said...

Well written, and a great reminder that nourishment is not just about food! Thanks for this!

Maria@amomisborn.com said...

Like this entry -- a LOT! With the kids and my work, I definitely can fall prey to malnourishment. Thanks for the reminder, Amanda!