Sometimes things spring to mind that I used to indulge in – like drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sport and motorcycle riding, to name a few. One by one I have been constantly refining and redefining the things I put into or do to my body so as to not cause harm to myself, adopting a more self-loving, non self-destructive way.
I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.
Whiskey for instance – I used to believe I loved the taste and would drink it straight like a ‘real man’. I remember thinking it was so sophisticated, single malt in one hand, and a cigar in the other. The first time I ever took a swig of whiskey straight, it burnt my throat, made my eyes water and probably made me sick – but still I persevered until I acquired the taste.
I have to say that I never really got to grips with cigar smoking, but cigarettes were a close second.
The first time I ever tried white wine it gave me instant heartburn, so I tried red; this didn’t give me heartburn but tasted ghastly, however I was able to persevere until I was a ‘connoisseur’.
Oysters looked disgusting and tasted worse, but once again I overcame my fears and was able to coolly consume with the best of them.
Cheese was disgusting . . . and I lived on a dairy farm! My dad wouldn’t eat it but it was quite often on my sandwiches for school, so once again through perseverance I acquired the taste.
Black coffee was another thing – bitter at first to taste, but with perseverance became a well-loved beverage of mine. The list goes on and on…
A lot of the tastes I acquired were about trying to fit in, be cool or be sophisticated; some though were about learning to like something because you were told it was good for you, or that it was all you could afford to eat at the time.
Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us, and why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?
Since I have been listening to what my taste buds have been trying to tell me for years, and noting how my body reacts to different foods, I have shed many kilograms, have a clearer complexion and feel ten years younger.
Thanks to Serge Benhayon and other practitioners of Universal Medicine I have been inspired to remove a lot of harmful things from my life. Without this inspiration, would I still be persisting in eating and drinking, not to mention inhaling, things that my body was screaming at me to stop? I’d like to think I would have stopped of my own accord but I can’t really say. I was always saying I wanted to stop those things I knew were not good for me, as I always felt imprisoned by them. Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse. It probably would have taken an illness or disease to wise me up, but even then, who knows? My resolve and stubbornness were legendary – not to mention thinking I was bulletproof.
I had now realized that the constant heartburn, being overweight, the extreme highs and lows and the hangovers were just a matter of choice, not something I was contracted to for life.
As time goes by and I am a million miles from the person who was out there trying to fit in and be cool, now in my late forties with no mid-life crises apparent, I am freer to make my mind up about taste … and without outside influences.
So thank God for Serge Benhayon and his entire family and all the other practitioners and fellow students who have shown me that there is another way.
By Kevin McHardy, London
Further Reading:
On The Topic of Food and Diet
And That Was My Last Drink – No Drama, No Resolve, Just Plain Common Sense
Messages from the Body to the Mind about Food
1,307 Comments
What a superb article. And so very much needed. You nailed it, it is all acquired taste. I hate these so called ideals that society throws at us, as if it were the truth. “You should drink” “If you don’t drink you’re no fun” “Real men drink (and smoke)”. All lies.
‘Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us, and why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?’ Great question to ask. With the list of all the things you taught yourself to ‘like’ it really exposes how what we do to ourselves to fit in and not rock the boat, really doesn’t make any sense at all!
Recently I have just started getting back into fruit, at first it was a little bit now it is loads, too quickly I can become addicted to something and in this case sugar….. maybe time to look at little deeper as to why I am needing it.
I have enjoyed coming back to this blog. I had to smile on reading it again at your descriptions of each substance Kevin and how you knew they weren’t for you at the first try. It seems a bit nuts that we would put our bodies through misery to conform and yet so many of us do. Becoming wise to why we do this is great to share as it gives others permission to assess their own choices and why they make them, offering fresh opportunity for different ones.
The phrase ‘acquired taste’ implies something desirable. A certain sophistication, a refined taste that has taken a certain skill or quality in attaining. But if we replaced the term ‘acquired taste’ with ‘laboured taste’ or ‘tolerated taste’ or even ‘bludgeoned taste’ then this might change our feeling and pursuit of acquiring certain tastes.
“Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us, and why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?” Such a great question Kevin. It makes no sense to force ourselves to eat or drink something that our body says no to, in order to try to fit in.
I have come to realise that it’s not just our taste buds that are sensitive but our whole bodies. And I also know from past experience but also from current experience that we are all masters at totally ignoring the messages that our sensitive bodies are relaying back to us. Our bodies are in many ways Home and so when our bodies are in discomfort or in a state of unease then we are prevented from feeling the Home that is available to us. And I have just experienced this, in that I was aware that I was slightly cold and also getting caught up in the discomfort of feeling that I was ‘behind in my work’. I addressed this by connecting to my body whilst I did some very gentle movements and hey presto I was back to feeling at Home within me again.
Sometimes when I have been working long hours, instead of stoping and getting more rest when needed I can turn to sugary foods that at the end of the day always make things worse.
Those are a couple of great questions Kevin, ‘Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us, and why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?’
We tend to see that drinking and smoking is normal because so many people do it. We see that getting legless on any Friday and Saturday night, in any city in the UK, is normal because so many people do it. Normalising our choices like this without questioning what the bigger impact is on ourselves and wider society is very unhealthy. I imagine that for everyone of us who began to drink, smoke or eat something that did not agree with them, overrode their taste buds and the reaction to it just like you did, Kevin… and why… was it simply to fit in with everyone else who also overrode what they were feeling too?
Just goes to show how ‘abnormal’ the normal in our society has become. Just because a lot of people do something doesn’t mean it’s good for us – witness cigarette smoking that was so ‘normal’ even twenty years ago – and doctors even recommended it longer ago than that!
We get so uncomfortable with the tension created by what is not expressed. We feel the tension of others so much, the tension of their unexpressed hurts which we then take on and take personally, we feel their reactions to us so much, we feel the loveless choices they make and their consequences so much. We feel it yet we don’t articulate it to ourselves, ignoring what we have felt not being able to handle it. We want to avoid feeling the pain of this so enjoin out of comfort. We then keep the whole wheel turning as others then feel our loveless choices too, go into reaction then then try to numb them out etc., etc., What a ridiculous game we are all playing! What a breath of fresh air for someone to come along and expose the whole sorry show by speaking the truth of what our choices are and why we are making them.
I could go through a similar list of food and drinks that I have persevered with even though I definitely did not like them at first. Dairy is an amazing case, because milk disgusted me and I could not drink it without gagging, yet put some sugar and fruit in it and turn it into yoghourt and no problem, likewise turn it into cheese, no problem. What I found was that not only could I overcome a strong aversion to a food, I would then like it to the point of addiction. It’s crazy but a fact.
Lovely that you now have the self-worth and self-love, so that you honour and respect your body at a whole new level, ‘I was always saying I wanted to stop those things I knew were not good for me, as I always felt imprisoned by them. Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse.’
It is really interesting how we can influence our taste by what we think we should like rather than it truly coming from our body… There is so much wisdom we can connect with by honouring what we truly sense/ feel or taste, something we don’t appreciate enough in general I would say.
How important therefore to support our children from very young to honour what they are feeling and to educate them on the wisdom the body has to share if we were able to give them permission to stay connected to it.
Isn’t it fascinating the bulletproof mentality. That we can do what ever we want, as much as we want and even though we know its not great for us, it’s that so what attitude and pride saying ‘ I can still handle it’. I totally get and resonate with the fact that if it was not for Serge Benhayon and the teachings he presents on from the Ageless Wisdom that with out healing our deep seeded issues with ourselves in the lack of worth and lack of love for ourselves things would be very different today. I dread to think to be honest.