Nosh

The headline reads "The one nutrient that is missing in nearly every diet." I know it’s a trite grabber, yet I’m sucked in regardless. It’s going to be something like chia seeds or edamame, I tell myself.  I can’t help it, though, curiosity is killing me. I need to know, if only for reassurance. Surely I’ve got this whatever-it-is; it’s everyone else who is missing out.

When we think about what nourishes us, the place we go immediately is food.  Our bodies run on this fuel; they don’t allow us to function without for long. Our stomachs rumble, our heads ache, and our patience plummets. This author; however, is thinking a little differently.  She challenges that self-love is the essential nutrient none of us seem able to feed ourselves. Ahh, I say to myself, of course, I completely understand how we could all be starved.

When described in these terms, “an essential nutrient”, I ‘m forced to pause.  This is a constant battle for me.  It goes way beyond looking in the mirror and thinking I need to diet or exercise more. Not a day goes by when I don’t catch myself beating myself up for thoughts, words or actions I could easily forgive in another.  We’re unbelievably hard on ourselves, and it’s hurting our health.

I think many of us don’t even realize we’re self-love deprived.  It’s become ingrained in our being, a way of life, a conversation we are so used to having with ourselves we can’t see it needs to change. So how do you know self-love is missing from your diet?

He tells me “should” is a word we need to eradicate from our vocabularies.  It’s an unsettling feeling, draining us of energy, a catalyst for ceaseless rumination  about taking action, not necessarily because we want to or even need to, but because we believe it’s expected of us. The irony is this expectation is self-created and held by no other. If you hear yourself using “should” I bet you could use a serving of self-love.

Do you ever find yourself, after an encounter with another or a presentation to a group, picking apart your part in the experience?  It’s worse than any performance review a manager could ever give.  Do you completely ignore what you did really well to allow for more energy to concentrate on what you felt could have been better?  Probably calls for a hit of self-love.

For many of us, it seems impossible to ingest the recommended daily dose of this vital nutrient.  But what I’m learning is being aware of the signs of this deficiency is half the battle.  I may never consume enough without a conscious effort, but I’m sensitive to the hunger pains, and not afraid to nibble on a little self-love.