This is what makes us human. We are social animals. We live in a society where we are always seeking to be heard, to be seen, to be understood, and to be rewarded for our actions. But, I believe that we are also programmed to be self-aware. That is to say, we know that if we don’t follow our impulses, we will likely harm ourselves, and that if we follow our impulses, we will likely ruin ourselves.
This is why we should all try to live by this golden rule. We should all try to follow our impulses, or we’ll end up damaging ourselves. And as we’ve seen in the news lately, it’s a common thing for people to end up on the wrong side of this rule.
I just wanted to throw out two more words of caution to you.
The problem is that most of these self-aware people end up in bad situations.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, be present.” -The Buddha.I think you can probably see the implications of this. What I mean is that if you try to do everything with the anxiety of “what if I do something stupid” or “what if I forget to do something, or I get distracted,” you’ll probably do something stupid, or you’ll forget something, or you’ll get distracted.
Again, no one is perfect, and all the self-aware people are no different. But some of them are living on autopilot.
So if you are trying to create awareness and mindfulness with your food and drink, it will be hard. But if you find yourself in a situation where you have to think, “I’m going to be distracted and I don’t know what I’m going to do,” then it’s not a good idea to focus on eating, drinking, or not eating in order to avoid that distraction.
I do think it’s more common for people to forget how to eat and drink. A 2013 study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign showed that most people don’t remember how to do what they’re doing. That being said, not eating or drinking after a long day of work or school is one of the more common distractions people find themselves in (and this is a problem, not a solution).
As a matter of fact, studies have shown that people who are preoccupied with food and drink are less likely to get through the day. However, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s not just food and drink that distracts us.
We often find ourselves trying to do things we’ve been put in an awkward position to do. We may be sitting at a restaurant, eating a meal that we’ve just ordered and have no idea how to eat, or we may be doing a whole exercise routine that we’ve never done before. In any case, we may be trying to do something that we’ve never done before.