eat, pray, love
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008“I am stronger than depression, braver than loneliness.” - Now isn’t that THE best line you’ve ever heard?? oh yes it is. I’ve got that one from the author of “Eat, Pray, Love”. (I forgot her name so… yeah… keke). She was a guest at the Oprah Show a few weeks ago, and boy… and have I learnt a lot from her! I tried a few of her tips and I’ve changed a bit (slowly..) so it really worked!!
Lesson #1: EAT - for pleasure. Don’t just do eat because you have to. Don’t just not eat because you don’t want to or because you’re on a diet. Don’t just eat when you’re hungry or when you feel like it. DON’T. Just eat for PLEASURE. Savour the taste of each scoop. Live for the moment. You’ll never know if you’ll die tomorrow.
I am skinny. Horribly skinny. And I can never get fat even if I tried eating 10 meals a day. Seriously. But you know, I’m gonna try this out - again. But this time, I shall enjoy the sweet, sour, tender, cold, warm, chewy, crispy, soft, nutty, hot, spicy (….strike ‘hot’ and ’spicy’. i HATE hot and spicy.) gourmet on my tongue. And to add to my enthusiasm, I shall do “mmm” ’s and “yumm”’s everytime I plunge the spoonful of chicken or whatever into my mouth! =D (..maybe not everytime.. now and then.. every 5 scoops.. or every 3.. hopefully I’ll remember to do this..)
Lesson #2: PRAY - everyday. Prayers (no matter what religion you are) are like.. meditation. An escape from this hectic world. A getaway to the “other part of town” that is peaceful and able to make us feel so… so relaxed. Plus, you get to ask for a little bit of something, learn to be patient, slow down, think back what you did, be grateful, repent, and when you’re done, you’d feel like you’re borned again - a refreshing, brand new you! You don’t have to go for a massage or a spa to ease the tension and the uh.. stress.. (oooh.. massage..tempting..). You’ll save money and travelling time. Just keep still, take a deep breath and pray.
Meditation and yoga. They always come together, no? I’m not that keen on yoga but meditation’s okay to me. Another kind of meditating is “Sit and Smile”. That’s it. That’s what the author said when she visited Bali and found this ‘guru’ that taught her this ‘new’ way of meditating. I thought that was stupid but when I gave it a shot, wow… I did NOT expect this to happen.
Right… While I was sitting cross-legged on my bedroom floor, smiling from ear to ear with my eyes closed, I feel very very conscious about my surroundings. The first thing that came into my mind was:
” Man, I feel like an idiot.”
And this thought made me smile even more.
And then.. this smile became like a.. some sort of catalyst which activates some sort of happy thought in my mind. I found myself thinking of the wonderful times I had in my life and such. Flashbacks, embarassing moments. Like.. Like reminiscing! (I may be nostalgic and pathetic but… I am happy and proud =) ) After what seemed like a long time (but it wasn’t!!), I realise that I was not smiling anymore. I was GRINNING. My body was slightly leaned back as my hands pressed onto the ground to support my weight. My legs were still cross-legged. My head was tilted on one side… and I was…. well….I was relaxed!
…and HAPPY!! And the funny thing is.. well.. I wasn’t focusing so hard, to tell you the truth. I was TRYING to. And look where it landed me! =) There must be a lesson here somewhere.. haha!
Lesson #3: LOVE - will come to you. My opinion/view: Don’t chase love. Let them come to you. If you chase love, you won’t be getting what you wanted. You see.. We expect a lot from love. And if we chase love, we want love to love us. We have that urge to attract love to us and this is a strenuos task which requires a lot of time, effort and of course, PATIENCE! So what happens next is.. Love doesn’t seem to respond (or doesn’t WANT to respond) so youll feel neglected, ignored and hurt. You eventually get the message that love doesn’t love you as much as you do and then things began to crumble and eventually fall apart.
When love comes after you instead of the other way round, trust me, you’ll be the happiest person alive. Why? Because love DOES love you. (why the hell did love chase you in the first place??? =D ). No need of drama and uhh.. fortune teller or the love astrology to aid you because you know that you are loved… You know you are. =)
Never in my entire life have I taken these 3 things seriously. I have been cramming myself with :
” i HAVE to eat because i HAVE TO.”
” i HAVE to pray because i HAVE TO.”
” i HAVE to love because i HAVE TO.”
I didn’t think twice about the uhm… “HAVE TO because i HAVE TO”’s .. If I have to “HAVE TO” everyday, man..I would break the rules!! (Im a bit of a goody-two-shoes and an A grade worry-er.. so breaking the rules is kinda ‘heavy’ for me). But now, I realise that I CAN change the way things are… from “HAVE TO” to “FOR FUN”! or for “PLEASURE!” If a dude asks me to sweep cow dung off of his doorstep because I have to, I’d slap him on his face but if it’s for fun and I’m offered a prize or cash then I’d do it happily without a doubt! I’d even take off my gloves and use my bare hands! I’d carry em by the fistful and toss them in a black plastic bag, smiling! Or even better, I’d put those dung in his garden as fertilisers - carefully in each flower pot while whistling “Heigh-Ho, Heigh Ho.. It’s off to work we go..” merrily!! =DDD
okay… i exaggerated…
In short: if you don’t feel like doing something, trick yourself.
HAHAHA!!!
Mmm.. not exactly.. but…well…
oh im sure you get the idea….. =)
