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
Interestingly a dear friend of mine contacted me to wish me Happy New year etc., and mentioned they had been dry for January and that they felt so much better within themselves they felt much more alive and aware and wondered why they hadn’t done this before. They previously had a series of ill health and realised that they were not looking after themselves very well and made the decision to change this slowly over a period of time. They started to grow their own veggies and the children get involved in the growing of them too, so it has become a family affair to take care of themselves and what a great start for the children to see their parents taking more care of themselves which gives them encouragement to take care of themselves.
Our taste buds are amazing! They never lose their ability to warn us of things we put into our body orally. When we stop, for whatever reason ingesting things that are not good for our body, the alarm bells still work. Choices to listen or ignore what our body is telling us will always be ours to make.
Thank you Kevin, as you have shared many of us were in the same boat and would swear we loved our indulgences and I have found that many things can still fit this way of living but what becomes enlightening is when we feel what they are actually doing to our bodies, which makes it easier to say no to any indulgence without the thought of sacrifice.
I’ve found with those things that I can feel aren’t supportive to bring into/do to the body they are a cover up for something I am feeling but refuse to accept and acknowledge.
This adds so much to the conversation Leigh as energetically there is always a reason why our bodies are reacting to the non-supportive-ness we can all live in.
Well looking at this photo Kevin I would say you are a man of impeccable taste!
I love how you claimed what you knew was true for you.
This is the start of all miracles.
This is a brilliant blog because you expose honestly how we try to fit in and to behave in the way that society expects. If we do not then society frowns on those people who do not fit in by the rules that have been set down.
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.
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!
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.’
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.
It is so true that we often override our initial feelings and experiences trying to live up to a picture about ourselves or life.
Love how your post Kevin captures so well the absurdity of an ideal.
Fitting in with others is a big one for most of us. I personally, never drank coffee until I was about 19 and then started working as a civil servant with about twenty other women who all drank coffee and I being the junior had to make it for them. As an attempt to fit in I tried milky coffee and decided it wasn’t that bad after all and acquired a taste for it which lasted into my forties.
In recent times, there has become a trend for becoming an expert in gin. It is the new thing and many many small boutique companies have started up offering their own unique flavours. But I feel that perhaps this is all happening without an understanding of our past, as gin drinking was something that got so out of hand in the UK just a few centuries ago, that it had to be banned by the government. This is fact – stated and recorded in history. And so if this is the case, how and why could we as an island population be so enamoured by this toxic drink once again, how could this be slipping in to our lives again… and not only that, but in its resurrection, being regarded as something that is of high value and status, when just a quick and simple internet search reveals the not so hidden and very devastating past that this drink has had on people.
Why do we as humans not learn from our past and just stop doing what has never worked before, maybe then we could join together and also stop making things that kill each other.
Yes, it makes you wonder how intelligent we really are if we keep repeating patterns and behaviours that are clearly destructive and harmful.
This shows how powerful and supportive self-love and self-care is. A majority of us seem to try lots of different ways to give up certain addictions and often forget to apply the most simple, useful and supportive tools we have, and that is self-love and self-care.
There were many things I used to eat that I wanted to eliminate and knew were not good for me but it felt impossible. Even with will power, I felt I couldn’t give up certain foods that made me feel yuk. After embracing self-love and self-care through being so inspired by people I’ve met at Universal medicine, I have now eliminated many foods that are not good for my body. It is amazing to make more loving food choices by listening to my body.
When we act in a certain way ‘to fit in’ we have to ask ‘What is it that I am trying to fit in with?’ When we choose to listen to the truth of our body we may inspire others to try a truer way of living.
This part made we question how often do we make decisions based on trying to fit in but sabotage honouring ourselves and our body?
Addicted we might be but given some True-ly Loving ways and this takes away the addictions, desires and attractions to anything that makes us feel duller or lesser than Love that natural Inner-Most or divine Essence.
From when I first met you Kevin to where I am now I know you are an absolute transformation. You have proven not only to yourself but to all those around you that our choices matter and we are the creators of our own lives and future. You are super inspiring and I love spending time with you when I feel and connect to the true you, not the influenced old you.
What you have shared Kevin are the obvious examples of how our mind has over-ridden what our body is telling us. How may other glaring examples of us being bullied into a way of living that is devoid of True connection because we have allowed what our mind was telling us have we observed? It is time to listen to our bodies so we can feel, deepen and develop our clairsentience and essence so that, that which have been driven underground by our mind can return and provide a glorious way of living.
‘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.’ It’s incredible what we will persevere with despite the enormous protest from our body because we think it will make us look cool, feel cool and be accepted by others. This is not just with what we eat or drink, but how we are in sport, also springs to mind. The fact that we push and over exert our bodies to the point of screaming pain doesn’t seem to figure in the mental construct that this has to be good for us.
“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.” Amazing how even with these undeniable and obviously painful and uncomfortable physical reactions, we will persevere with something just because of the association we want to have with it.
No one can deny the true intelligence of the human body, as Kevin shared here, every time he attempted to consume something that is harmful to it, it either tasted or felt horrible and there was an initial reading of ‘yuck’. So the fascinating thing is how and why we override this natural protective nature of our bodies. When we begin to be open to this question, true healing emerges as it unveils all the previously masked belief systems of how we were told to be in the world or how we try to fit in and not stand out for the amazing beings we are, perhaps for fear of not being accepted even though we know we are much more than a physical human body.
I never thought the day would come when I preferred the taste of greens over something sweet and yesterday that’s precisely what I felt, so when we are giving small children sugar is that something they naturally enjoy or is it something that we have given them that they have become addicted to? If this is the case then perhaps it is not so innocent to give a child a lollipop which is no different to giving them a drug?
I can always tell ‘bad’ foods for me as they have that “I want more affect’ like a drug, food can be so addictive,I have been there loads of times when I eat something I know is so not good for me but find myself again and again going there.
Over time I have had to come to the conclusion that only when we address the energy that is causing us to eat certain foods does the craving go.
What if taste is a vibration? A vibration of energy.. Which one ?
It is ludicrous what our minds would have us believe when we permit it free reign without our bodies as a compass. It can be a grossly destructive tool for manipulation when it is not governed by the heart, body and Soul and so often in my life have I experienced this. Not only with food, alcohol, drugs etc but also with emotions, lack of self-doubt, self-worth and general negative self-talk. But as you have presented here, return to our connection to our body, our love within and our honouring of this connection and we come to realise that our true intelligence is found therein with a wisdom that knows what is best and true for us at all times should we choose to listen.
I have acquired a taste for many things that have not supported me, some times I have even thought when it is unsupportive it is rebellious, breaking the mould….true rebellion I am realising is living well and shining….how many of us are doing this to our full potential in life and so it is clear where the true rebellion from society actually is and why people who seek to destroy and misinterpret and have their agenda placed, concerning Universal Medicine, it is in the fact truly going to change the world if we all decide to shine…
I kind of wish I had the realisation of what true rebellion was when I was growing up, far too often we thought we were being rebellious when we were just being sheep and doing what the older guys had been doing for generations maybe just with a different twist.
Will power alone is not the answer to overcoming our addictions. It is developing true purpose by reconnecting with the love that we are that truly gets us over the line. If we have not acquired the taste for this process, then we have acquired the taste for all that distracts us from it.
Will power absolutely doesn’t work over the long term, because it’s like a force that we use to make ourselves do something that doesn’t feel natural at that point in our evolution and development. Developing purpose by committing to stay with what we feel, committing to life, to expressing ourselves, being honest and living in a loving way.. when we start to do this all of the other reactions and distractions start to fall away; they’re just no match to how we start to feel inside and so not needed anymore.
This is a great blog though my experiences have been different – I always liked bitter as a taste so I liked coffee. My first taste of alcohol was a spirit at about age 10 and it left no real memory. On reflection, though, yes, Kevin, you are right – beer took quite a bit of time to get used to and red wine only tasted nice with plenty of food in the beginning.
I recall when I was a child I picked up a cigarette on the ground that was still alight and I had a go at inhaling it. I choked and choked, my eyes were watering and my throat was burning. I never did it again as I couldn’t imagine how it was possible to get past what I had experienced, it was horrible and my body spoke to me loud and clear.
Our body never lies . . . it is only the mind that feeds us lies.
This is so true what you say Kathleen, our bodies are always honest, not so our minds.
Its all a game of evolution and the the game is to offset it as much as possible – we can play dumb but we all know deep down what substance evolve us and what do not.
This is so true, but not something I would have consciously figured out for myself if it wasn’t for the help of a few very wise characters I would be stuck in the thinking that it was certain things that I was addicted to and not that there was an underlying reason for doing them in the first place.
Often we have to work very hard to like alcohol or cigarettes. That says it all really. If we don’t like it when we start, then clearly it is not for us.
Our body naturally tells us what it likes and doesn’t like, and often this is a great indicators as to what is good for us and what is not. I recall tasting cheese for the first time when I was 7 or 8, the smell reminded me that something had gone off and when I tasted it, it tasted rotten. But years later I developed a liking to it because I persisted and convinced myself to like it. It is interesting how we can override what our body is telling us if we continue to ignore its messages. Now, I have learnt to listen to my body.
We can acquire a taste for just about anything when our head and not our body rule us.
Add in the belief that this is the food I was raised on and every excuse can be given to ignore what the body tells us loud and clear isn’t truly supporting us.
“A lot of the tastes I acquired were about trying to fit in” How many of us have taken things, drink things and smoked things we knew was not any good for us?
So many of us have overridden what we knew to be true in order to fit in – no wonder we have such illness and disease rates – hardly anyone is brave enough to claim what they truly deep down feel.
‘Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse’
I am with you on this one, Kev. You have to find yourself important enough to make changes that support your body.’
Gorgeous to read Kevin, there is another way and we have found it. I remember choosing red wine over white because I thought the red was better for me, I really didn’t like either but drank to be sociable, my tummy rebelled after a while with gastritis, I look back now and feel how crazy to do this to my tummy and abuse myself in this way, to just fit in.
Everything we consume and love to eat has a certain energetic effect in our body. Exploring and healing the roots of the cravings and needs will support you to return back to the innocence you once had, before hurts imposed on your eating or drinking behaviour for example. Returning from being a puppet of behaviours to the real choice only you as a soul can make.
These are very wise words Stefanie because if we don’t get to the root cause of our behaviours and heal them we will be puppets to the spirit until we do.
Isn´t it crazy that we get used to substances that tastes in the first moment horrible. A proof that it is not about the substance itself that we seek, but the effects and pictures we place on them that we emotionally seek.
It is so true Kevin, we have such delicate sense of smell and taste and yet we continually over ride this ‘to acquire’ a habit of consuming something that may not be great for our bodies. Not only do we have very discerning senses but also are very sensitive and feeling in our very beings, something which we dismiss by dulling or overstimulating our awareness.
When we begin to listen to our body and make our own choices about what we put into it, choosing from how whatever it is feels and how we know from experience it affects us, so much changes for us . For myself I have found a much greater level of vitality and awareness and enjoyment in myself with a decreasing level of outside props that I used to count on to keep me going.
Yeah I agree Elaine the quality of life and how I feel is worth every second not indulging in the outside influences available to us. Now it’s a matter of refining because I can use food in this way, so being honest as to why I have chosen certain foods is one I keep having to check in on and also the quality in which I am preparing it too.
It is a taste for stimulation that we acquire and when we seek this we can ingest almost anything, when we stop seeking this we attune our senses again to a different taste.
We have a society that is hungry for stimulation and not so much for nutrition and nurturing our body.
“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.”
This sentence says everything, many of us deem the heartburn, being over weight and the highs and lows of life as being ‘how it is’. But as is shared above it isn’t, rather that it is a choice, often one made on the advice of another and many times made with some intention to care for our body. But there is a deeper reality, this being that our bodies are all different, so the mainstream ‘this is good for you’ may not be what is best for each persons particular body. The reality is that we are each the only one that can truly discern what it is that our body thrives on.
Getting to this point is a seminal experience in life.
Isn’t it staggering the lengths we go to to self abuse! Clearly it is never pleasurable to self abuse yet there must be more behind this as we even put up with sour and aweful tastes and experiences just to make self abuse normal for us!
It baffles me that I used to find smoking a pleasurable thing to do, even when I deep down knew it tasted gross that didn’t matter and it became something I enjoyed! Mind boggling really, but now understand the energy behind it and being in the lack of self worth all these things seem attractive. Not any more!
It is amazing how we can get used to things, I remember as a smoker thinking non-smokers totally over-reacted to the smell of smoke even though I remembered it almost choking me as a kid. It was not until I stopped that I realised that I realised how invasive and smelly it is.
Yeah it so is and I was ignorant to how imposing the smell was as well. Now I can’t stand it and make sure I am well away from it even if I have to cross the road to not have it in my face.
A profound job for you to choose Kevin and to make such change, not only stopping but also you had to look at what came up and why you have been choosing them so. To face the behaviors that then come to the surface take courage to undergo and face them in full capacity without reacting and going in the cycle around again! It shows us that we are capable to be honest and actually heal by nominating and letting go..
Kevin, I so relate on so many levels to what you have shared about the substances that I used to put into my body and how I would always have to override those first few times so not to feel sickened by what ever it was I would be abusing my body with. What a blessing it is to now come to an understanding of how energy works and the energetics behind how we used to abuse our-selves in this way, so we can truly heel and not just put a stop to it..
Greg when I read ‘What a blessing it is to now come to an understanding of how energy works and the energetics behind how we used to abuse our-selves in this way, so we can truly heel and not just put a stop to it’. I could clearly feel the force that so many of us use to stop particular unwanted behaviours but how that force needs constant application and even then is not sustainable. However when we truly heal, then there is no force required, unwanted behaviours simply drop away and never rear their ugly heads again. Truly magical stuff.
And we think as human beings, that we are intelligent. Why on earth do we train ourselves to consume something that feels and tastes horrible in our body? It is a proof that we link emotions, beliefs and ideals onto certain behaviours ( drinking whiskey- being a proper man, smoking- being mature, covering insecurity etc ) that fill up an empty space in us. The moment though you start you fill that space in yourself by you ( and finding out, why the empty space is there in the first place ) , you don´t need any substances that sell any picture or security you searched for to fill you up anymore.
It’s interesting how we forgo what we initially feel, such as how things really taste and feel in our body, to then bludgeon our sensitive body and being with foods and drinks to simply fit in to a consciousness that we think makes us look ‘cool’, or basically give us a sense of acceptance and recognition. At the end of it all our bodies will tell the tale as to whether this is really working for us, as will the way we really feel at the end of each day.
Its become easier for me to say no to tastes that I know will affect me negatively, though this has been quite a journey. One of accepting where I am at and when is the right time to cut something out. When I come from my mind and say I need to stop something I inevitably want it more!
That is really nailing it Sam I am exactly the same when I try to get myself out of something that may not be so good for me I usually end up by doing it’, but if I really feel whether I want it or not the answer is always obvious.
We are addicted to the way things dull what we feel far more than the way things affect how we are perceived or even the way they taste.
Can you imagine if we got taught in school all about the “Acquired Taste” and we got to look out for foods and substances that our mind may crave yet our body rejects?
If we were supported with the knowledge you share in this blog Kevin from an early age many of us would be more aware of life choices and the impact of them.
We have to challenge where our thoughts are coming from, for example when we slump down in a chair we have very different thoughts than when we sit up straight. That just goes to show that our movements make a big difference to our thoughts.
Elizabeth its a point you make here that shows us all how simple changes we make transform the way we think and feel, how simple would life be if we listen to this difference? Listen to the fact that if we change how we sit our thoughts change – what then if we changed the way we go through life? What would happen?
I have found when I am honest and open to listening to my body, it very clearly guides me to what type of food to eat that is supportive and nourishing. But when I listen to my thoughts they often tell me something very different.
Yesterday I had a lazy Sunday as my body was telling me I needed a rest day but I listened to my thoughts on what to eat and woke up today feeling pretty rotten. With me it is as though my thoughts/spirit are just waiting to pounce in a moment of weakness.
Once I got to feel and understand that the reason I was reaching for things that were not loving and supportive of my body was the fact that I had unresolved hurts and I was numbing myself. It all made sense as to why I started such habits. Dealing with the root issue has been life changing and easy to let go of habits that are not loving for me and my body.
“why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?” Question of the ages!
We say we abhor the bad habits we have but continue to do them, and others profess Love for the same things and even say they couldn’t live without them. To me this indicates it’s never about the acts but all about the comfort of the familiarity we gain. Your words here Kevin inspire me to ask, what life would be like if I embraced change and going deeper with love.
” Oysters looked disgusting and tasted worse, but once again I overcame my fears and was able to coolly consume with the best of them. ”
It’s shocking how we will abuse our body to fit into the ill behaviour of others so as to be accepted by a group or person.
It would be interesting to see what we really liked (or loved) if we restarted life as a blank slate – so removed all pictures, hurts, issues, conditions – all of that stuff so we were totally fresh – and then experimented with how foods, drinks, tv shows, ciragettes etc affected us. I suspect that our choices would be completely different and that our “acquired taste” is built on not truly what we love or even like, but what we need to survive in certain situations.
If we grew up being parented to honour our feelings and not be influenced by the outside forces and external influences life would be an internal affair; a life based on that inner-harmony and therefore love.
“Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us,” Great question Kevin, one that we would do well to study from early years onward at school!
Bad habits can be so enticing, we need to have a strong sense of who we really are in order to challenge them.
There are so many reasons why someone eats or drinks something. Sometimes food and drink that are obviously not yummy are treated as you say as the best of the best. I have observed that sometimes we eat that because we believe it gives us status and not health.
Gosh we work so hard at poisoning ourselves should we laugh or cry it is absurd.
Trying to fit in is a killer isn’t it? I wonder how many items are consumed or purchased or activities done that are more about trying to fit in, than listening to our bodies, Quite a few I imagine!
That light bulb moment when we do realise that we are not contracted for life to live with such abuse on our bodies, that we can actually make different choices that will support us in the quality of the way we are living is one that makes you really stop. Then an overall feeling of wow I have been doing this since I was a teenager and here I am 20,30 or 40 years down the line not feeling great and that life feels empty. What a moment to say no.
Yep I agree Shami, where is the sophistication in any disease, from any sort of cancer to diabetes, that is caused by lifestyle choices.
With regards to single malt whiskey and cigars, isn’t it very interesting, that we can adorn ourselves with objects that are seen as sophisticated, but when you really look at them, they are merely liquid in a glass or a roll of dried leaves. And where is the sophistication in liver disease and lung cancer anyway?
“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 Kev. We put ourselves at the mercy of the world and then wonder why we feel like a victim.
We are blessed with an incredibly wise body, so why do we override what our body tells us in so many different ways?
Yes and when we have those conversations out loud and say “I had a feeling not to eat this.’ We are ignoring how loud the body truly speaks.
Acting in a way to ‘fit in’ although we know it is not good for us is interesting as it seems we are attracted to things that are detrimental to our health. Meeting Serge Benhayon who lives truth has been an inspiration to take responsibility to live in a way that is not harming to me or anyone else and an invitation to others to ‘fit in’ with a more harmonious way to live.
It can be at times super difficult to say no to something that you have acquired a taste for but once you really allow yourself to feel what it does to the body this changes the choice to continue or not.
It begs the question . . ‘who acquired the taste, your body or your mind?
Kevin, my experiences were quite different. I didn’t like smoking so never did it but I always loved the smell of coffee and also the taste – though not when black usually. I only ever remembered liking cheese.
Reading this really brings it home how we can persevere with our desire to like something even though our first tasting experience is telling us no way. But we push through until we are convinced that we like what we are doing and then pride ourselves on our achievement – as the author has stated ‘I was able to persevere until I was a ‘connoisseur’. I remember doing this myself with wine and beer, even though both taste awful but the challenge was to persevere and fit in with my friends.
‘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?’ It’s bizarre when we stop and think about it. I expect most, if not all our experiences are similar to yours Kevin. The constant overriding what we feel to fit in and yet all our bodies are copping it.
I love this . . . “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.” . . . what a fabulous realisation!! When I was younger I took feeling like crap for granted as I was so indulgent in emotions, frustrations, trying to please others etc even when I had given up the alcohol , the drugs the nicotine and had adopted a purist diet. now it is the opposite way around and I am in my 60’s as all that was required was a connection to my inner essence, the love that I am . . . and the love that we can all tap into within as it resides in each and everyone of us.
What is great to read is how this process of letting go of certain foods, drinks and inhaled substances has been regarded as a returning to what your body already knows, and not an imposed idealisation of what your body should be doing, it simply is a re-turn, and this is amazing.
Yep but I still find it far too easy to fall back into old ways, my body told me a while ago that the mince I used in bolognese was now too fatty for me but I conveniently forgot and made it last night which resulted in me having heart burn all night.
How amazing did we all feel as kids? And the thought of drawing hard on a cigarette or downing a glass of whiskey as a kid is revolting and yet there is something that happens to us between childhood and becoming an adult that makes us persevere with imbibing toxic substances. There are so many reasons why we’re prepared to do what we do to ourselves in adulthood but basically they all boil down to the same thing and that is that we have lost sight of what we intrinsically knew as kids, which is that through our natural connection with our bodies we know that we are everything that we could ever want to be.
A very timely read as over the last few days I have come to realise how much I rely on taste to satisfy a need inside me. I have had a cold and as a result I can’t taste anything. But that hasn’t stopped me from eating, in fact I have been eating much more than I would normally eat as I have this continuous need to taste something – anything. All the food has been nourishing but obviously there is another force within me that is not interested in being nourished and just wants the taste. Much to ponder on here!
I love that note about how we are not contracted to our choices, meaning if they’re not working for us, then we can change them at any time. And also, we were given highly sensitive tastebuds, and yet we override for the sake of fitting in. Makes no sense at all. Great article!
When I think back to the time I started to try smoking it certainly didn’t taste or feel great at all. I hurt my throat, it tasted bad and I became all dizzy in the head. It is fascinating that then this becomes something that I enjoyed. The overriding and seeking to fit into a picture of what I had thought was cool had the upper hand for a very long time.
The same memory came flooding back when I would overeat to the extreme levels in order to not want to feel the hurt or tension I was feeling through my levels of sensitivity. It became a habit that led to extreme weight gain that I masked a happy life yet underneath there was far more at play.
“Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us,” Good question Kevin. We literally give ourselves a kick in the face by ignoring and overriding what our bodies tell us in so many ways. It simply doesn’t make sense.
“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 ” –
Kevin re-reading your post once again today, it is so inspiring to read and even more to see your gorgeous photo too as confirmation…and looking super cool through being so at ease within yourself. Beautiful.
Kevin, you provided some great examples of substances our body clearly recoils from yet we persevere with until we ‘acquire the taste’ for them. But if we are honest, your list is merely the tip of the iceberg on what we all have put up with or put ourselves through for the sake of looking good on the outside facade or in trying to keep up with the Jones – it’s crazy.
Abusive substances have been around for a very long time and what is fascinating is that we have learnt over this duration but ignored it and created even stronger and more abusive substances. Their must be something magnificent that we are desperately trying not to feel and that there is a force that is making this choice. Saying no to this and connecting to what is underneath all the layers we have put in the way is such and empowering way to live. Saying no to what is not us and saying YES to all of who we are.
What gets us to try a certain substances in the first place? The moment we choose to have any abusive substance we must be first pretty disconnected with ourselves.
Knowing that ‘being disconnected’ is not if we look for a medicine and although these substances are not true medicine but only a way to not feel the pain or emptiness it shows we know we are meant to be connected and we want to end the awful feeling of being disconnected.
‘Not something I was contracted to for life…’ this is a gorgeous invitation to give ourselves permission to unshackle from patterns and behaviours that we think are forever embedded. Thank you, Kevin
It’s like there are two programmes running the show – our bodies with their communications and our minds with their agendas and forms of control over the body, silencing it as it speaks. But what would happen if the mind was obedient to the body and made choices that were respectful to its messages? What would life look like then, and would it be more fun?
Life would look amazing, all the problems of the world would be a thing of the past and it would be fun and joyful. It has to be said, our bodies if listened to would not go to war or harm another, pollute the earth or itself, it is always the mind in the driving seat that causes all the grief.
I had flashbacks whilst reading this of doing all the similar things, red wine tasted foul like the strongest vinegar ever but I still drunk it .. and lots of it. There were many time I wanted to stop loads of things but never did and I used to think it was will power that I lacked but you are so right in saying it is through lack of self love we carry on doing the things that are abusive to us. I stopped smoking through fear really when I needed an operation for something and the fact that I was not bulletproof and had a body! came crashing down on me. For me alcohol was the hardest to let go of .. that was until I attended the Sacred Esoteric Healing courses held by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, in fact after the first 2 courses that was it, the alcohol was gone … and I didn’t even notice! and have never looked back. So for me this alone proves that it is nothing to do with will power but everything to do with love and clearing from the body what is not love so we can be who we truly are and start to feel who we truly are and cherish this.
I can so relate to these words. “I was always saying I wanted to stop those things I knew were not good for me, as I always felt imprisoned by them” – and it was a prison that felt so hard to get out of until I woke up to the fact that it was simply a matter of choice. It was a choice based on love; love for my amazing body that I had treated very unlovingly for so long. We always have a choice and if we think it’s too hard to make we need to stop and ask ourselves why.
So beautifully and simply put Ingrid. The irony of comfort foods is a great example of how we eat in order not to feel something we want to avoid and then we end up being in discomfort or even ill from that very choice.
I so remember when I started to drink alcohol how i didn’t like the taste of it and thought it was hideous. Over time through the persistence of fitting in and doing what everyone else does I soon came to acquire the taste of alcohol. As an adult I stopped for a while and when I had a sip of some wine again I really to see how much I found it repulsive to drink.
This exposes so well just how much we are not living who we really are, when we are constantly overriding the truth in our bodies to fit in to a culture that does not represent who we are. I did for many years but now realise that living that way was not real, and not really me. In honouring what I feel and what my body is telling me, I have discovered and experience a realness to life that is far more fulfilling than any of the seeming acquired tastes of food or lifestyles that I had previously persevered with in order to fit in. For when we are being ourselves, the love we are, there is no need to be anything else?
That is so true and anything else just takes us way from the love that we are, and the older I get and the wiser I get the more I realise how unimportant everything is compared to the love that we are.
Great blog Kevin, I remember when I took up smoking, I found it disgusting.. couldn’t stand the taste, couldn’t breathe properly straight away yet I persisted with it to fit in with my boyfriend, then got hooked. My body wasn’t having it for too long though and with many challenging symptoms including a smokers cough I stopped them.. thanks to my body.
We are sensitive on so many levels – multi-dimensional. We can over-ride that sensitivity or we can nurture it. I have done both, in the latter I found myself overworked, overweight and overwrought – therefore overriding was not the smartest move for me. Nurturing my sensitivity meant that I developed this relationship with myself on many levels so I could use all 6 senses to have a relationship with life and all the divine beings I met 🙂
Well said Fiona – we create an image around such behaviours in this way to mask our own choices to act contrary to our body and in learnt disregard of it.
Brilliant blog Kevin, I felt the same when I was making food choices that I knew were not good for my body and I also felt it was impossible to give them up. The struggle and hardship to give up certain foods that was harming my body came from my thought. But once I connected to what my body was communicating to me and honoured what felt was true and loving it was no longer about giving up any food but it was about my commitment to loving and caring for my body. The issues I realise was not my food choices but my choice to either love my body or not.
Just goes to show that our taste buds don’t actually register what else is going on in the body because we get caught up in the flavours. But what is fascinating is that on first taste some things are hideous and then once we keep pushing through they start to become enjoyable. Something else is definitely going on other than the addiction of what some things are be it sugar, caffeine for example but it is the pictures that we are aligning to also that we are wanting to fit into as well.
The crazy thing to is how we are almost brainwashed into believing that alcohol is some sort of reward or is needed to celebrate almost everything in almost every culture when all it does is stop us from fully enjoying what is there to be enjoyed.
I ought to right a follow up to this about all those things that taste absolutely wonderful instantly, but are just as bad or worse than the ones we have to acquire the taste for.
The way you write Kevin makes so much sense. How many of the things we do start as something we don’t actually enjoy, but persevere with to fit in. It is a great basis for determining what is healthy. As often once we start we can even be in denial about whether it is good for us or we do like it. I think most of us will have said at some time or another, we love coffee, or beer or cheese. But is it really love, or just a desire to fit in and/or a taste that becomes an emotional fix.
I love what you have shared here Kevin, it seems ridiculous that in the first instance we reject the taste of say alcohol or cigarettes and yet we still pursue the use of them to the point that we actually tell ourselves that we enjoy these strong tasting items.
Realising that we have a choice, that we are not contracted for life into dysfunction, is a powerful awareness that opens the door of re-connection to our innermost.
I love about what you have shared in this blog Kevin. I love that we always have a choice; we always have the choice to take responsibility for how we feel and what we eat. Thank you for highlighting that our bodies are the greatest marker when feeling and knowing the truth of a choice.
And it is not only what we eat but how we eat as well, and how we prepare our food. For many years I would stuff food down my throat as I was always in rush mode… ouch I can feel how abusive that was for my body!
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. What a powerful realisation Kevin, and a truly supportive blog for so many who struggle to make lifestyle changes even though they know they have to, because as we all know those old habits don’t give up easily!
It is a lovely process to look back at our first experience of foods, drinks and taking up certain activities to see what was influencing us to pursue these at the time. We often had very clear negative messages from our body, but the need for something was stronger and allowed this to override common sense. It is lovely to not feel beholden to needs any more and free to choose what is right for us.
Thank you Kevin as you say ” there is another way ” you are living proof and you are real , real , cool .
It really does make me stop and question that being a supposed intelligent species that we are how can we consume food and drink that tastes vile in the mouth and get used to it! We have all done this and it is unless we question our choices and the impact they have on our body then we will just carry on making the same abusive choices.
I am constantly amazed at the huge impact food can, and often does, have on my mood and energy levels; your blog Kevin is a beautiful reminder to deeply listen to our bodies, not what is ‘fed’ to us from the outside.
Love what you share here Kevin.Like TV drama and gaming, there are many things that require an acquired taste, many things if repeated become addictive.
Beautiful blog Kevin. It brings the simplicity by which our body lets us know what is good for us or not.
Thank you Kevin, I have always had a small tolerance for alcohol and remember at one stage I decided to only drink organic red wine as I believed it would affect me less because it was somehow a healthier choice? it didn’t last long as even then could feel the harming effects on my body even with half a glass of wine. I have now learnt to care for my body like never before as it is through this body that I work with God.
This is indeed a great question Linda and one worth pondering more on as this strange and rather contradictory behaviour is so normal. Contradictory in the sense that it may taste great in the mouth but it certainly does not feel great in the body… the body we are living and experiencing our very life in.
Beautiful and inspiring to read Kevin; thank you for sharing your experiences and your wisdom.
Thank God for people like you Kevin who has woken up to the true effects of alcohol and what it actually does. There is no glamour in drinking alcohol; it is a poison that affects us personally and as a society.
I remember as a teenager drinking alcohol and not really liking it. Lager was cheap and trendy but tasted vile to me, and every time I drank it it gave me thrush due to the high yeast and sugar content. I remember trying cigarettes in a desperate attempt to be seen as cool and acceptable to the trendy crowd, but these were vile too. My body just didn’t want them, and I could never understand how anyone could actually want to breathe in all that smoke into their lungs. I would take a tiny puff and blow it out without inhaling fully. My body was screaming at me in both cases. It’s interesting how we ignore it in favour of appearing a certain way to others. Looking back now this seems totally ridiculous.
I remember drinking wine during a period in my life which I did not like, just to fit in, I decided to switch to red wine thinking it was better for me, until I ended up with gastritis, I finally decided to ditch the lot, trying to fit in was not worth the damage to my body which then took a number of years to heal.
I agree Meg, the big one here is how it makes our body feel as more often than not the things that taste absolutely amazing make us feel bloated or racy so taste is only just our first defence.
“Acquired taste” is a funny expression, it’s interesting that there’s a lot of kudos around having an “acquired taste”, surely if we keep life simple – if we do not like the taste or feeling of something our body is trying to tell us that it’s not right for us?
It does take time to ‘acquire’ a taste – overriding what the body has clearly rejected.
I used to drink whisky straight like a real man also, I thought it made me look like a strong woman who knows her alcohol and can handle it well. However, to be honest, every time I took a sip from the whiskey glass the burning sensation would bring tears to my eyes. I would pretend that I like it and comment on how much I love the feeling. – the things we do to fit in, hey!
What part of our being pushes through on self destructive behaviours such as smoking or drinking alcohol when our body naturally tells us that it not natural or any good for us?
“I persevered until I acquired the taste.” This could be said of absolutely anything that we first instantly knew felt wrong but kept on going for fear of not fitting in or being accepted. I know I can recognise it in a whole heap of things from behaving in a certain way to eating and drinking things that were harming me. Now I have no qualms in rejecting what I know feels harmful, and I’m deepening my awareness of exactly what these things are as they become less obvious or more subtly ‘hidden’ in our society, life and relationships.
It’s easy to turn a blind eye to what is harmful in order to fit in but when we make the choice to respect our bodies wishes it suddenly becomes way more important than relationships built on what is not true.
It’s possible to live by a list of do’s and don’t’s, but the most supportive thing we can actually do for our body is not to avoid xy and z but to cut out things that we honestly feel make us feel worse rather than better. You’ve given some awesome examples Kevin, I love this blog!
So true Susie, we look to the outside to fill the emptiness that we feel inside and totally overlook the inner wisdom and knowing that is there.
Great question …Why are we constantly overriding what our bodies are trying to tell us? And we consider ourselves intelligent people? We drink copious amounts of alcohol, throw up, have a whopping hangover,feel like sh.. the next day and then do it all again in a couple of days or the next weekend. Does not make sense really!
Kevin, your blog felt like a breath of fresh air this morning whilst delivering a very powerful message. I am sure almost all of us can relate to persevering with something that tastes horrible and feels awful in our body in the way you have shared. We all have amazingly wise bodies which are in communication with us all the time – perhaps we should be valuing this more and letting its voice be heard.
Beautiful Kevin, like you I had acquired a taste for all these foreign toxic substances, and clung onto them like my life depended on it. Now I look from the outside, wondering how on earth I ever managed to inhale smoke or gulp down poison.
thanks Kevin… It really is extraordinary that something that we know immediately and intrinsically is not good for us, we will persevere until as you say we acquired the taste, and even then the sophistication… How extraordinarily dysfunctional.
“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’.” I know what you mean I kept trying to drink it until there came a point it was easy to drink, crazy how we force our body to keep going even when its giving signs to stop.
I really get what you are saying about an acquired taste, I have stopped drinking and smoking and I know that when I smell now, I find it disgusting…really distinctly alien to my body, but I did both for years. The more we clean ourselves out, so to speak the more we know what does and does not support us. I will never smoke and drink again.
Food is much more than the ingredients which are added to it, it is also the way it is cooked and the way it is prepared, in proportions and with quality or in a rush etc. I have many times sat down to a meal I have cooked after having some meals out and noticed how deeply settling it was to have food cooked with a gentle quality.
Yes going to bed early and getting up really early is my natural way of living now and I find that I have so much more energy and just love the quiet of the early hours. I now see the stars when I get up rather than when I go to bed. I would never have believed that I would be doing this a few years ago but now I would not have it any other way.
If we can get through the cold turkey stage whether it is with food, drugs, drink of smoking then we are on the way home. At this point we need good support around us and a real acceptance and appreciation of oneself at where we are at as the moment we go into self criticism or self bashing we are far more likely to repeat the harming behaviour again. Love can not live in a loveless body.
It is so revealing that we have to ‘acquire’ a taste for the things that are harmful to us not just substances but things like staying up late whereas if we tune into our bodies we have a knowing of what is the next right move to make to support ourselves. So simple – it is amazing how we complicate our lives in so many ways.
Thats so true Helen I had to really try hard to condition myself to stay up late, it took years but only a short time to revert back to the early nights that just feel so much more natural to me.
‘I was always saying I wanted to stop those things I knew were not good for me, as I always felt imprisoned by them.’ It is amazing how we allow ourselves to be trapped into behaviours that do not support us and then feel powerless to change. I too can relate to wanting to change many things that I knew were detrimental and then constantly beating myself up when I failed yet again. It is only with the support of Universal Medicine practitioners that I have been able to let go of so many things that took me away from the glory of my essence but this is an ever refining process and I have been appreciating this more deeply in the last few days that I have the key to unlocking this myself but I can only do it when I can accept support from others and with that bring greater honesty to what is really going on underneath the behaviour I want to let go of.
When we live with what the world is telling or showing us, we drink and eat what is so called ‘good’ for us. When I was young I never learned to listen to my body, neither did people around me. In hindsight I was just filling myself to not feel how lonely and empty I felt and later on I just went with what was common and added alcohol and cigarettes to my lifestyle, never or rarely listening to what my body was telling me. And yes I did experiment with leaving dairy, sugar out of my diet but it never lasted. Building a loving relationship with myself has been the start of feeling what is true for my body to eat and this is something that is developing and deepening, I guess forever.
Yep hear hear! ‘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.’ And oh my goodness I so do not miss hangovers; however I am still working on listening to my taste buds and what my body asks for!
Your blog Kevin actually asks us to look deeply at the legacy we leave for the generations to come. Do we truly want to pass on practices of self-harm to our children? Can we look into the eyes of wonder of an infant and truly ‘want for’ him or her to one day ‘love’ a good whiskey, or to go through a packet of cigarettes in a single day?
We are left to question just what happens to us along the way, that we replace our innate and true joy, with such so-called ‘pleasures’, that cannot ever, truly compare…
When I reflect back also Kevin, I did not really imagine then, that there could truly be another way – even though so many ‘acquired’ habits were clearly harmful to one’s body if not psyche also…
What was, and continues to be deeply powerful, is the realisation that through restoring a deep and real love for ourselves and all others, things do indeed change. I no longer want for ‘the wine’ either, but I never ever feel that I abstain from such things – rather, the experience is that I actually feel too darn GREAT to want to spoil it with the inevitable effects. Never would I have imagined this possible, until experiencing it for myself.
Kevin, I so love how you talk about acquired taste – so many things in life are based around having to learn how to ‘like’ things that our body does not actually like! How crazy is that! To actively teach ourselves that something that is not good for us is actually good for us! Wow – but thankfully we have a thing called the body which eventually gives us the signs that things are not quite right…you know the signs I am talking about, hangovers, bloating, insomnia etc. All the choices we make have an impact on us and this is what we eventually get to feel.
How is it that the more one is able to abuse or override themselves, the more ‘sophisticated’ we are considered?
Time will always reveal the truth of our choices, and the false ‘sophistication’ clearly undoes itself very quickly when we see the impact this has on the body.
And the more wise choices me make the quicker our bodies are to tell us when we make the wrong ones.
I remember drinking whiskey like a real “man…woman” you get the idea, I would pride myself on the speed I could down a pint. I actually got a false sense of worth from relationship with alcohol, it is such strong part of our society and I knew how to drink well. It was part too my life from a young age, I knew no different, what I did start to become aware of was my consistent need for it and my ability to consume a lot and thankfully, my body beginning to make more and more statements that it was not a relationship that worked, body and booze. I stopped drinking but that “acquired taste” was something I found tricky to let go of, not the actual drinking, amazingly when I decided to stop, and understood it to be the poison it is that was simple…it was all the social and cultural attachments that where hard to say good bye to….but I have, and I have no doubt that I will not touch a drop.
Coming from a real drinking culture like I did, I can relate to your comment, you held real street cred if you could hold your alcohol or didn’t if you were a so called light weight. Looking back I can see how ridiculous this is but absolutely couldn’t when I was caught up in it.
I was with some old friends yesterday and they were joking about one ot them’s attempt at making his own vodka and how ghastly it tasted, and yet how it did the trick. The old trick aye? But to what expense on the poor old body?
“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’” I know this feeling, wine tasted so horrible. I persevered when I was around work colleagues, just to not feel left out, even when I did not like the taste or enjoy it.
It is interesting that to fit the picture of ‘cool’ we train our body to accept what it is telling us it doesn’t like and then end up wishing we could break the habit but when we offer our body what supports it we can feel the benefits and there are no addictions to break.
Thanks Kevin.., take coffee for example, who actually liked their first taste… I know I distinctly remember the shock of the difference between the taste and the smell, but then of course , ‘learning’ to love it.
“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?”
This is such a revelatory question to ask Kevin for it exposes that there is something running the body that does not have the body’s best interests at heart. This is what happens when we hand over the reins to the human spirit who is here on Earth to take it’s physical form on a joyride, indulging in the seeming pleasures of all it has created rather than simply surrendering back into the love and light of the Soul from which it (we) have departed from. Learning to take care of ourselves and listen to the immense wisdom our body communicates to us daily from the depth of the universal intelligence that it forever obeys, is our first step back from this renegade journey many of us have been on since time began.
Oh the times I have handed the reins over to human spirit only to find again and again the the human spirit does not actually give two hoots about the damage and disharmony it can cause to this divine vehicle in pursuit of a few cheap thrills, and if it wasn’t for the teachings of the ancient wisdom coming to light through Serge Benhayon I would still more than likely have no idea of the extent of the disregard I was in and that any illness and disease that came my way was totally down to the choices I make and the way that I live.
Cheese is disgusting, I agree Kevin, and is something I have never ever been able to put in my mouth. Even as a child I knew cheese was a big no-no as even the smell of it would make me feel
sick, let alone put it in my mouth and chew it……. And coffee, I never drank coffee until my early 30’s, and never drank coffee when home, only when I was out as a change from tea. Coffee was easy for me to give up.
“The first time I ever took a swig of whiskey straight, it burnt my throat, made my eyes water and made me sick – but still I persevered until I acquired the taste”. I relate to everything else you subjected your body to by overriding that first impulse.
What is about taste that has us so addicted? As I open up and feel into this question I feel hungry but not famished as I have just been unwell and have not eaten for 48 hours. My feeling is that when I do eat these days I tend to over eat, which still bloats me and opens me to same type of emotions that I was trying to hide with the substances you have described in your blog Kevin. Why emotions well for one there are extremely addictive, they hide our hurts and in a way that is how we define our human-ness. What does this mean?? In absolute honesty it is time to let go of all the perceived hurts and be open to healing the ideals that have held me like a suit of armor and be open to the first impulses.
We often become very good at acquiring taste for those foods that clearly are harmful for our bodies, it is only until we start to connect and honour our bodies more that we can start to make more self-loving choices and eventually accept the level of awareness that is innate within us and no food, drink or vise can ever compare to.
I have loved watching you Kevin drop all the extra weight from the excess of your taste buds having a party… You certainly do look 10 years younger if not more and everything about you is so much more richer. Our quality of relationship is so much more deeper and real. Thank you.
Thank you Kevin for the truthful sharing. We often find ourselves eating or drinking food substances that our body does not really tolerate. This disregard is often brought about as we try to fit into society and be part it to. This often backfires as we become addicted and we are left with a mess to clean up. Total disregard!
This is such a great title for a blog as these words acquired taste often sends the message that there is a pride in the ways we use food, wine, or others means of entertainment to make us feel equal to another even though our body is sending us a completely different message.
Great blog thank you Kevin. I find life is a continual refinement of what works for us and what does not. As you say it is a choice as to whether we respond, lovingly with deep love and self regard, or we override and disregard.
“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.” I wonder how many of us experience these elements of life thinking they are just part and parcel of daily existence rather than taking a moment to consider it is self induced and therefore can be changed?
Isn’t it funny that we associate being ‘well travelled’ or ‘a connoisseur’ in relation to foods that don’t support us?
No one was ever a master in broccoli as far as I know – but we create these foods that aren’t supportive to the body, and then we persevere with them and call ourselves well educated all because we can handle the tastes of alcohol, cheese and coffee to name a few. It tells us a lot about forcing our bodies to like something that does not support it.
Why do we indeed, ‘ why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?’ I am learning to honour and respect what my body communicates with me more and more, and it feels so much more lovely.
I have found out the hard way on several occasions, the down of not listening to the body as the body can take a lot of abuse, but there will always come a time when it will take it no longer and some illness will arise.
Great blog, I can totally relate to the vices we choose that just do not really make sense… How is it that we can consume a food or substance that does not agree with us and yet we can do so indefinitely. Prior to the teachings of Serge Benhayon and his inspiration, I too was wanting to stop, but continuing to loop around in cycles of poor food choices and I never really got anywhere with making a true change. That is of course until I began to develop a level of care, then love and further more nurturing for myself where I started a relationship with my body that was honouring instead of dismissive and disregarding, had I not met Serge Benhayon, who knows where I’d be? Most probably in the same merry-go-round of life trying hard to make a change but feeling like a hamster on a wheel just repeating the same issues and indulging in the same foods making them the cause of my issues.
..and thank God for Kevin sharing such a honest blog that raises greater consideration. I never considered this statement ‘Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us,’ Absolutely, why are we given such sensitive tastebuds and why do we override. It’s very simply our bodies are designed to guide us to what is truly healthy for us and what supports our bodies to live at their optimum. But instead we are known to override and thus live falsely, as we put things into our bodies not because our bodies truly need it, but to feed some identifications we hold about ourselves…so it seems!
Kevin it was great to come back to your blog and remember how we acquire taste to fit in and how most of it started when we where young as we had not other choice and then as we got older we just carried on that abuse. Like you say our bodies tell us all the time if it is not good and harmful, we just need to stop and listen and do something about it.
“A lot of the tastes I acquired were about trying to fit in, be cool or be sophisticated; “I would love you to go talk about your experience in schools as it’s at an early age we start abusing ourselves under the illusions of fitting in. What a great role model you are Kevin having gone there and now knowing a million percent that this is not the way.
You make a great point here Kevin about things actually burning or tasting awful at first and yet we still insist on inflicting this onto the body, just to satisfy an image we have of ourselves – it really is crazy.
“Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally override what they are telling us” – This is spot on Kevin, and can actually be applied to every thing about us, not just our taste buds! We put ourselves through such an onslaught of things that actually abuse our bodies or go against what is naturally good for us, and all for the sake of fitting in with friends or society and making sure that we following the ‘rules’ given to us by parents, advertisements, institutions etc. I really love how you have talked about the fact that things do become and ‘acquired taste’. But everything is not lost. What if we did the reverse process – and developed an acquired taste for those things that are true for us, that so support the body and that are ‘good’ for us? Like eating foods that are nutrient rich and make us feel clear and light. And stopping or reducing those things that do not support us. So perhaps the whole acquired taste is not such a bad thing if we apply it to those foods and things that support us, nurture us and care for us.
I love your writing, Kev, and I can relate to so much of it. It’s amazing – and shocking – the things we have done in the name of being cool…or to keep up with the crowd. It’s inspiring to read about the choices you’ve made for yourself and the results you’ve seen. Thanks for sharing this.
When we’re young and we don’t like certain foods we get told our taste buds are just immature, yet what if this is not really the case, and that our tastebuds are there to guide us to only eat foods that enhance our wellbeing. If a food burns or leaves us a funny taste then perhaps that food isn’t really made for us.
I remember not liking spinach when I was young but was made to eat it, which got me to wondering whether I needed to eat it at that time, as when I got a bit older I liked it very much and still do, so perhaps my body is needing the iron now or something.
Or perhaps it does not so much have to do with the taste buds themselves – perhaps it is more to do with how the body feels afterwards….and taste buds can change over time and respond differently.
Taste can be a distraction too. Sometimes things can taste really good but then when the food goes into the body then the effect is not so good – for example most people would say that a chocolate brownie tastes good, but most of us know that it wreaks havoc on the pancreas due to the massive release of sugar into the system, hence the sugar rush and the heart rate increasing (no different to an adrenalin rush)…and of course not to mention the downhill effects of things in the body (effects on sleep and the nervous system as well as weight gain etc).
It is still important to respect the taste buds too – and not try to convince someone that healthy food is the way to go if their taste buds are gagging at it. Given time, though and detoxing from fast foods and super salty and sugary foods, taste buds do often recover and then you may find yourself craving spinach or greens or other healthy foods.
I recall when I was a child, I hated ice-cream and yoghurt and cheese (which I now know are not that good for me and that I don’t tolerate anyways) but I also really loved chocolate in all its forms (chocolate milk, chocolate sauce, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate cake and of course as a chocolate bar) and yet I know how damaging chocolate can be to the pancreas and nervous system etc. So I suppose it is about not relying only on the taste buds but also checking in on why we are drawn to certain foods and why we might continue to choose eating them.
My diet was made up of such sweet things when I was a kid, I only went for the sweeter veggies and fruits. Peas, carrots and corn were the only veggie I ate. Today, having cut sugar out, I appreciate flavour and taste so much more – rather than going with the sweeter option.
I often wonder what is driving the words “acquiring a taste”. It is as if we can register straight away that it doesn’t feel great in our body but we
override this in order to fit in with everyone else even though the message is LOUD and clear. Thanks for sharing this blog Kevin McHardy as this saying is often used when we choose to not speak the truth. A definite reminder about responsibility.
I tried smoking cigars and they made me ill. The strange thing is that I kept trying them (because I thought they would give me gravitas somehow) over the years… and they always made me ill. Your blog is great Kevin because it explains why we do something so incredibly stupid over and over!
This is a beautiful invitation to look deeper at the likes and don’t likes that we have, as in, are they really things we love and like or are they simply things we have learned, and as you say Kevin acquired, to like and love.
“why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?” This is the golden question for this era, as a society we are masters in overriding what is really going on, hence why we have so much illness and disease at this time.
Yes it is, Sam, and I feel a question that will be asked of our kids and their kids’ generations. But amazing to have people like Kev and everyone here commenting do consider the question and make more loving choices giving the answers we find.
I found it fascinating that a boy who grew up on a dairy farm who didn’t like cheese, and had a dad who didn’t eat cheese, learnt to acquire a taste for it after awhile. I can imagine your mum would have used the cheese as it was ‘free food’ and not to be wasted. We feel all these motives as kids and the fact that although we don’t like something we just have to put up with it. I feel this is where we learn our ability to override what we know in our body, which sets us up for a life of disregard.
For me the word ‘Acquired’ really stood out in this blog, it’s like an achievement or a goal has been reached. But if this acquired and held onto food, drink, behaviour, movement is detrimental to the body than what is it’s true purpose and/or reward? And I ask myself who am I appealing to and why when I choose to go against my bodies communications?
Love this sentence Kevin – “often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.” I wonder too, sometimes I might have a tiny little taste just to discover that is was nothing like I thought I remembered it tasted, and therefore no more desire at all for it.
The ills we allow are no sooner gone by an equally simple choice – one that will Love us to the bone.
There is so much encouragement in the world to glamourise all these things that do not come naturally to us to have in our bodies, yet we have images of how grown up and sophisticated we are when we drink/ smoke/ eat them, pushed at us. Imagine a world where taking good care of ourselves and developing that precious relationship with ourselves was seen as the awesome thing it is.
“I had now realised 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.” It’s incredible when we look at all the foods and activities we doggedly pursued in the name of being ” cool, fitting in, following trends” you have named a few that all took persistence to be able to overcome the pain, or to stomach them. I ask myself why did I do that and why was the need so great that I overrode my body?
And a big one, what energy was coming through that I felt I had to comply with it and persist, despite my body loudly protesting.
It is a very unpleasant exercise – overriding our bodies knowing to persevere with ‘fitting in’, ‘not rocking the boat’ and expected societal norms. This applies equally to any number of foods, substances, words, behaviours and patterns – incrementally we are forever telling our body to be quiet when it speaks if not ignoring the message altogether. We have such little respect and honour of our bodies that are left to live our often deeply unloving and damaging choices – its as if we consider our body an unending capacity vacuum yet haven’t considered how we are loading it up, cleaning the filter or what happens to the waste?
I remember as a child saying ‘but I don’t like it’ even before I’d tried a new food and being told ‘just try it’. I wonder now if my body knew it wouldn’t like it and I didn’t need to put it in my mouth to confirm it.
Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol was once seen as cool and a bit rebellious, and almost expected of a teenager as a ‘rite of passage’ into adulthood. But if most teens were doing it, then how can this be rebellious? And if most are doing it, then something back then was obviously very wrong in the way teens were growing up if they felt the need to explore toxic substances to take the edge off life. Now it’s even more extreme for teenagers with drugs, porn and tattoos which isn’t isolated to teenager years and extends into adult life.
I’ve often wondered why it is that the more one can override their body, the more they are considered ‘sophisticated’.
Hahaha – great point Kylie, it makes no sense does it? 🙂
How different my whole life would have been if I listened to the wisdom of my body and the messages it was giving me. Ignoring and overriding this truth lead to making many choices that were not loving and harmed my body. Thanks to Serge Benhayon I have learnt to listen to my body now and it is an absolute game changer when we do.
It definietly makes a difference who we have in our life. If we are with people that don’t love themselves and are abusive more often than not we will follow suit in some way or not take as much care for ourselves as we could. If we have people in our life that love and care for themselves honouring what is true for them, more than likely, on some level we would be inspired, not only that it shows there is another way to live and be. Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine provide this guiding light and inspiration for humanity.
‘I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.’ Great point Kevin, food can be an addiction just like anything else.
The research seems to be a complete waste of time and money as then you get a different research saying that coffee and alcohol are good for you in moderation, but these ones are probably done by the manufacturers of these products.
Crikey…. Such a lot of food types that were seriously and innately disliked by the body, only to have this wisdom over-ridden by social mores.
Love your writing Kev, it also made me contemplate how we become accustomed to other things in life like just accepting disharmony in relationships or being exhausted or pushing through etc. That as kids we may have not felt comfortable with these things but as we see more of this we just start to accept it and then it also becomes our way that we no longer question.
Staying up later than 9 pm and sleeping in past 6 am was something that took me a good number of years to get used to having been brought up on a farm it was always early to bed and early to rise, so getting used to the party scene took a lot of overriding to keep my heavy eyelids from shutting but over time it became the norm and I could stay up like the best of them. So going back the other way of hitting the old sack early was such a beautiful thing to return to and honour.
It always comes back to choice doesn’t it, every moment is a choice and to feel into our body what is a true and wise choice. We have it all, just need to listen and feel.
Sometimes, very rarely these days but sometimes I do wonder about this too – “I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.” And when I then have a look at something and feel into my body, I discover that I don’t really miss it at all. Sometimes I might have a smidgen of a taste, the tiniest one and when in my mouth, it tastes nothing like I thought I remembered what it tasted like.
It is interesting to look at the correlation between trying to look “cool” and totally disregarding our bodies. There is nothing “cool” about disregard, never was and never will be.
You are so right Elizabeth looking back at the disregard and self abuse I used to do to myself thinking it was cool was utterly ridiculous and I cringe when I think about it, but down the line in a few years time I may look back to now and think it is disregard the way I am living now.
That’s awesome Kevin. I can very much relate to ‘… thinking I was bulletproof.’ I have absolutely believed the same thing of myself growing up. I was hard as nails and could handle almost anything. It’s so funny and ridiculous at the same time how invested we are in persevering with something for the sake of fitting in, all the while being in denial about the fact that we want to fit in. It’s a huge illusion that gets us absolutely no where and pulls us away from who we are.
I totally agree Elodie, I used to pride my self on the illusion that I wasn’t bothered about peer group pressure or the need to fit it in but looking back I did, but also there was the need to check out and not feel what was really going on.
Kevin, this is brilliant to read, I can definitely relate to much of what you have written, ‘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’, I used to go for tastes to fit in, such as alcohol, I found the taste very unpleasant and so would have to add a lot of blackcurrant to drinks to make them taste good, and then I gave up drinking and instead went for what was ‘good for me’, this also didn’t feel great as I would put myself on extreme diets that I read about and my body would suffer as a result, I love now listening to my body, it is so sensitive and very clear on what is nourishing and what is harmful for it.
I too for quite some time used to miss the social occasions and the banter down at the pub and although I was having a superficially good time I compare it now in the same vain as watching pointless TV, yeah it passed the time and was entertaining on some level but in truth a complete waste of time.
I know what you mean Kevin as I too have looked back on the days of past. That I would look at all the things that I used to be into, alcohol, indulgent foods, drugs, partying, those days may be in the past but in saying good bye to those things (willingly over time), I used to miss incredibly the social aspect that came with all those activities. It too some time to realise that I wasn’t really connecting with people anyway, but finding ways to just ‘get by’ in life. I always used to feel how futile these engagements were, feeling like they lacked purpose. Life is very different these days, very purposeful and deeply meaningful, connecting to people in a way that I couldn’t every have imagined.
I was brought up to eat everything and be proud of it. I honestly would say that I was so into seeking acknowledgement though food, taste was probably the last thing I considered. This is such an ingrained habit that people will pay a lot of money to eat fashionable food at fashionable restaurants. However I will attest that the sensitivity to taste and to what supports our bodies is never lost and can easily be returned to, once the importance of feeling great all of the day replaces feeling great for the meal.
This is such a great question for all to deeply ponder upon: “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?” When we are connected to our true inner self, we can get these answers easily and then can start to make different choices that support us and our body in all areas of life., bringing with it much more love for ourselves and others in reflection too.
I can relate to this too Kevin – “I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.” – In the past sometimes I would wonder about it, and sometimes I might have had a little taste, only to find that the attachment was to the memory of the moment and that the food held no attraction any more, as it didn’t taste good at all any more.
I have too constantly been refining the foods I put in my body. I am finding my food choices are changing all the time as well as the quantity I eat. It has been really great exploring and listening to my body.
Looking back I can see that I also worked hard to acquire a taste for things that I really didn’t like, but did so simply to fit in, as the effort that went towards fitting in was definitely much more preferable to the uncomfortable feeling of being the odd one out. Like you Kevin I have recently been “adopting a more self-loving, non self-destructive way” of living with one of the most appreciated “side effects” is that I no longer feel like I don’t fit in so there is no longer the need to acquire a taste for anything that my body truly doesn’t like. Oh how life is now so much simpler!
On thinking about this notion of ‘acquired taste’ it seems to me there are many situations in life that do not feel right to begin with but we persist to fit in, to the detriment of our physical, mental and or emotional health and wellbeing.
My first cigarette at 14, to fit in with my older sister and her friends, was totally disgusting, made me feel dizzy and brought on a coughing spasm, but I persisted and ‘acquired’ a taste which became a habit that lasted many years causing much harm to my body. When you are young you don’t consider the consequences…..how absurd that we think we can get away with such abuse.
An acquired taste essentially applies not only to food, but also to other activities and choices in life – for example cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, but also crazy partying, extreme sports and what about being grumpy or in a bad mood?
If you think about it, none of these things are our natural way of being with each other and take practice in order to ‘acquire’ a taste for this. The more we do them, the more they become a habit and something we ‘go to’ and claim we even ‘like’ or ‘enjoy’…Food for thought 😉
It occurs to me that what you write about our harmful acquired taste where food is concerned applies exactly the same with music, emotions, beliefs and in every aspect of life.
Hear hear, so it is – we can apply it to all things in life that we have taken on without first discerning what energy stands behind our choices.
What is it about acquiring a taste? I remember quite distinctly my first few cigarettes… the peer pressure, the almost instant choking as my lungs go ‘aaargh… what are you doing?” but then feeling so cool from the acceptance I got from others for being a smoker. So stupid in hindsight.
The more care and loving choices we make for ourselves allows us to be more discerning of how certain foods might affect us and so we have a choice to keep refining how we live and keep up with evolution or get stuck in the comfort of the old which obviously no longer support our bodies. I know which one I’ll choose.
Thank you Kevin for the simplicity and power of your expression, love it and could not agree more about the ways we choose to override truth in our bodies as a way to fit in with the world around us. Thank goodness for Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon for the constant reflection of truth and love of a different way to live.
The constant reflection of truth and love from Serge, his family and Universal Medicine students is what the world is crying out for, I certainly was without even knowing it and without even knowing how much of a mess my life was as everything I did is somehow accepted as the norm. Bring on the new norm of the Way of the Livingness!
It’s truly astonishing what we will do to fit in, food and drink being the biggest markers as when we change and waiver from the norm, oh the comments are plenty… and so good to have Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine to offer reflection for us all so that we can connect to the love and truth we all inherently hold within.
Kevin, I love how you talk about the acquired taste for foods that are not even tasty! This is hilarious when we allow ourselves to really see it as it is, and it makes no sense to continue down that track, and yet so many of us do…It is time to wisen up and begin living in a more respectful way towards ourselves.
“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.” Kevin that is really inspiring for me to read how you have changed and it would be great if more people would discover the power and intelligence of their bodies AND their taste buds.
Kevin I am sure sooooooo many people can relate to this blog and have had similar experiences (cigarettes tasting foul, drinking wine was like drinking vinegar!) but don’t say anything because we want to look ‘cool’ and fit in. However, really it is the complete opposite how can we be cool when we are doing something that feels disgusting to our bodies and not express it! Loads of times I wanted to stop drinking especially since my body felt completely battered the next morning by the effect and quantity of alcohol I drank. It was the Sacred Esoteric Healing modalities that helped me connect with my body and true self allowing all of that which was unloving for me to fall away. Similarly what I am starting to notice is how certain foods that are not considered ‘bad’ at all but healthy can still have an affect on my body that feels dulling. It is truly a beautifull thing to regain the ability to discern and feel what is truly loving for us.
So true Kevin. As a kid I found the taste of coffee to be utterly gross, wine made my mouth curl up, whiskey made me want to wretch (that one never changed) even the smell of cigarettes was revolting – I remember so clearly coming downstairs in the morning and smelling the room in which my parents and their friends had been partying – it was so vile. Forward wind fifteen years and there I was consuming all of the above. Amazing how we can enforce these substances on our bodies that so clearly and so loudly are shouting no. (how many times have I woken in the morning and vowed never to touch another drop of alcohol?!). Forward wind another fifteen years and my reactions to these substances and smells has reverted to what it was as a kid. Why? Because through Universal Medicine I have understood and committed to self-care and in doing so, my body is now being heard. And it’s super clear what it is saying.
And I must add too that the push to override what we know is needed by our body can be so strong! It is like the two consciousnesses that Pluto the Disney dog had – the one little white angel pluto that kept urging him to do the ‘right’ thing and then the other little devil-like pluto that would push him and goad him to make the choice he knew was not the “right” one. In the end, we know, deep within we know what is going to support us and those around us or not. But it comes down to knowing that we actually do have a choice, and no one else to point the finger at. So the answer lies in our ability to keep making even the smallest of self loving and self caring choices which we will then find will grow on us, till such point that it overrides the poorer choices.
Fantastic blog Kevin, exposing how we do ‘acquire’ a taste for those very things that don’t serve our body or any true purpose. Smoking, drinking and eating certain foods are the obvious culprits we develop a taste for, but we could actually go deeper than that too and ask why we over eat or over exercise or stay up too late…all these often come from needing to be accepted by others, or as you have so eloquently shared, from a deep self loathing, lack of self worth or lack of self acceptance. So essentially it is about working on this self love and self care that allows us to build a foundation to stand upon and hence make more caring choices for ourselves. Not easy to do, though simple in essence, due to the back log of choices and bad habits we may have taken on board. However, the choice is there for us, should we really want to make a change.
I love what you have shared here Kevin. I had one puff of a cigarette and the taste curled my toes, so I never went there again. The taste of coffee was super full on and so I never went there again either. Alcohol I really had to work at, but never truly like the taste. Drugs never interested me as I couldn’t imagine not being in ‘control’. So I went to sugar. It tasted nice in my mouth, but the side effects were vicious (in more ways than one). I used to steal them from the local newsagency and when this was stopped, I went on to steal money to buy them. I have found this addiction so dreadfully difficult to stop, and after 6 years of not eating any refined sugars, I can still have days where I feel the urge to consume something sweet like fruit or sugar free sweets. I have come to the conclusion that artificial sweetness is playing with me like I am a big puppet and it is up to me to reclaim myself back, along with my taste buds and my natural sweetness.
Kevin I love this blog, it made me think of how many times in the past I have just overridden what my body has been trying to tell me, and rather than listening, I steamed ahead. Now I realise the importance of having a connection to my body, and how amazingly intelligent it is, and it lets me know if I eat something that’s difficult to digest, I get stomach ache as a little reminder.
Kevin Thank you so much for this revealing blog. I love following question: “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?” I am often wondering why I can so easily override my body as I only have this one. What I found out is that I have such a strong will to achieve things that it is very easy for me to override my lovely body and I normaly use my head to explain exactly why it is ok to do so. I have to admit that this not very intelligent to do this.
It is amazing how we can choose to turn ourselves into an amoeba, shape shifting just to fit into whatever is in fashion whether it is with clothes foods, alcohol, drugs, music – all of it asking us to conform to what is in vogue at the time but none of it expressing who we naturally are. The whole world suffers as a consequence.
You’ve torn up a contract Kevin, one that we all sign on to unwittingly when we are young. We learn to love things our body hates, just to conform. How bizarre this is! Worse still they are the things that are delivering us not the arms of illness. To say no is a powerful gesture, not just to your body, but to the conformity we have all accepted as our very abnormal normal.
Wine, alcohol, cigarettes… they just don’t make sense to me. They are disgusting AND terrible for your health. Donuts, Chocolate, Muffins, Sweets, pastries, Biscuits, cakes, desserts, lollies.. now we are talking! These foods are designed to be stimulating, sensation inducing and make you crave more (its chemically true). They are the seductive ones, but all foods if they re not truly nourishing are used in some way to dull us. Even so, muffins were boring after the first couple of bits, chocolate got too rich after a little bit, couldn’t have too much soft drink or I would feel like I was going to EXPLODE. What can be said about these foods? They may satisfy for a moment, but the many moments after they do not, and the moments after that we have to live again what it was we were trying to escape from anyway, so its best to live in awareness of whats happening rather than try and dull and avoid everything with food.
I realise big time I’ve fallen into the trap of getting an acquired taste for a supposedly healthy option food. I could not stomach the taste or texture of Avocados – dipping in occasionally to try them knowing them to hold some nutritional quality and came highly recommended! Eventually 20 years down the line I’ve now acquired a ‘taste’, bulk buying took hold and yes eating far too many. So for me its not about chocolate, coffee or alcohol (now) it is also those healthy options that I over indulge in to bridge past unhealthy choices. A great reminder for me to read this again today Kevin and, to keep feeling into my choices that either harm or heal.
Since I can remember I have been interested in eating healthy. I would try different foods and even if I didn’t like the taste I would eat them because they were ‘good’ for me! I too am refining my diet based on how the foods feel in my body and it is very different to eating coming from my mind. It is a constant commitment to eat foods that truly support my body as to where I am at.
Great story Kevin. I like the way you have looked at the things that you do and eat/drink. ” Think” – that it is good, even when the body doesn’t. I just added to my body testing that feeling in my stomach I thought was hunger. It was actually feeling my disconnect. So now instead of reaching for food, I look to reconnect to myself and that feeling clears.
I sadly came to the realisation on Saturday morning that I can no longer have takeaway curries, my body is saying it’s a no no, even though they are made to order, no salt, extra coriander and medium hot totally gluten and dairy free, taste delicious but sadly its off the menu.
Kevin I love this sentence ‘My resolve and stubbornness were legendary – not to mention thinking I was bulletproof.’ It shows how arrogant we are, and how far we have walked away from being connected to our body, because if we were connected we would not do the things we do to abuse it.
I would love your blog to be distributed to every pub in the land, it is a great reminder of how we can delude ourselves when it comes to foods and drinks we ingest.
What I have really realised also is that the refining of what goes into our bodies must be a true process at our own pace, I realise mine may have been a snails pace at times but I have always had to learn things in my own way.
Such a great point Kevin, learning at our own pace is so very important, there have been many times where I have tried to be a certain way as it fitted into an ideal of how I thought I should be – when I have done this I have actually ended up taking 3 steps back instead of going forward as planned!
I agree Kevin, its important to honour and be true to ourselves, our bodies speak loudly if we choose to listen.
Like yourself Kevin I feel constantly inspired ‘to remove a lot of harmful things in my life’. The inspiration that is forever being shared/presented to us from Serge Benhayon and the many Practitioners and fellow students. There is another way/quality to live our lives, we do not have to ‘exist’ on the lows and highs of what we ‘think’ life presents to us as the only choices available. On another level we actually know this – just hidden under our many layers of past choices/issues.
Great disection of the truth of our behaviours, are we doing them because they are good for us? Or did we choose to like them because it gives us a sense of fitting in.. It is incredible how we override those clear signs from our body to not be our true selves but instead settle for fitting in and going along.
Thanks Kevin for your real and very accessible account of how our choices are so often based on being cool, sophisticated and fitting in. I’m sure your descriptions of the first impressions and horrible tastes are universal to us all. In reality there is no one who could honestly say their first experience of alcohol, tobacco or drugs was anything short of horrible, yet we persist and persist until the side effect or kick or high overrides our body’s message of “DON’T DO THIS AGAIN” Whereas, choices made from Love are so clear and leave no doubt.
The first time I drank whisky I was violently ill, so I swore I would never drink it again. It left such a horrible taste in my mouth I could not even stand the smell of it for years but other forms of alcohol numbed my feelings so whisky became a drink of my choice. How did I go from complete rejection of the taste to acquiring a taste? My feeling is that I was so numb after 10 years of alcohol and drugs, and so stubborn that I felt I was “bulletproof.” One could liken my addiction to the TV show ‘Keeping up Appearances’ for I can see no other reason for my drug addiction other than it was to fit in with others, because as I stated from the start, drugs of all kinds made me feel ill so I had to toughen up so I could fit in with the crowd; the funny thing is everyone was in the same boat.
In just taking a moment to consider what I have an acquired taste for in life, I can see how I have chosen many forms of abusive behaviours to be a part of my everyday. Much of this has gone now, but the taste of them remains, and the more honest I am with that, the easier it is to say no and to let them go.
Returning to this blog, I appreciate the reminder and the revelation to feel what I am holding as a way life has to be. Is this true or is this something I have just gotten used to. From diet, exercise, even how I walk and move, it is true of simply a taste I have acquired for how I think life should be. Thanks Kevin for the insight
Your blog made me smile Kevin as I remembered how I too used to think I was sophisticated when I did certain things. I tried to like opera for example and would attend an opera performance, all the time disliking how loud and harsh I found it. Everything in my body was rejecting what I was hearing but I kept on trying to like it. Eventually, I gave up the pretence but it took a while because I was sold on the idea that opera lovers were sophisticated. The things we do to ourselves because of a belief or ideal are staggeringly unloving and uncaring of ourselves.
When we were younger we were told that we had to complete the meal that was put in front of us. I remember having to sit down to a plate of cauliflower cheese and was not allowed to move util it was finished. My body was saying no, yet I had to override that and finish the meal. This was not allowing me to listen to my body. This is not to blame anyone, as I have chosen to override what my body is telling me many times.
There are so many things i have subjected my body to, from beauty regimes, to diets, exercise routines, that have felt awful in my body yet i pursued them because it fitted a or an outcome I had in mind. It is a big thing to ask of a body to be continuously punished and ignored and still function.
I remember that I had to work hard from a young age to like many foods that my body initially rejected, dairy was one that I couldn’t stomach but I persisted and ate cheese and even thick cream, but still couldn’t come at milk. . To be able to finally give these foods up is such freedom. I can feel that attachment drop away, and how much lighter and vital my body is.
Having similarly refined and simplified my life it now seems so weird looking back at the things I made myself like yet were harming me. As I do so I realise that it was all for recognition and acceptance because I had so little self-love and appreciation and how far I have come in re-gaining that love and appreciation of myself.
I can so relate to what you share here Jonathan. Very weird indeed some of things that I would consume and the consequence of doing so made itself known instantly (headaches, migraines etc) and yet to persevere in eating those foods that were ‘harming me’ on a regular basis, constantly overruling those warning signals from my body. Not a lot of self-love. This is changing gently as the foods consumed are being refined. To really appreciate the journey thus far travelled with these self-loving changes I feel is also equally as important.
It is easier I have found as I get older to make more wise choices and be less swayed by outside influences, this is one reason I have such admiration for young people who are not influenced to making unhealthy lifestyle choices because of peer pressure. Yet I suppose I still see that peer pressure exists even in older people, it just isn’t quite as strong as among the young where the fear of missing out is often such a big draw.
Peer pressure was a killer for me and it was always said that I was easily lead, although I did often do a bit of the leading as well. It is so great to be a prisoner of that insidious way of being and I also admire young people that have the strength and self worth not to go down that path.
It is actually an arrogantly mindset to keep setting forth , whilst actually ignoring all the messages from our body that it dislikes what we had given it. This to me is the absolute form of arrogance and pride, but in a way that it totally disregards our body. So not really clever. So, listen to our body by discipline our mind is much more intelligent if we look at our health statistics that are unbearable and on the rise. It is wiser to work with the body and starting by listening – even if it tells us different things than we want to hear. Than for sure.
Thank God Kevin too. I am so glad I have stopped eating things that kept me dull and stopped drinking alcohol by my very own wise choice. I feel so vital now and clear in my head, I occasionally have mood and or strong behaviors that lead my life – as I am now aware that I have chosen to strip off any behaviors this life that are not made – as I have acquired the taste in so many many ways – I now choose to become free, freer than ever before – by dropping tempting things too – all because I know I do not truly need them to feel gorgeous – as it is my inner-heart that is smelling gorgeous , this all because I re-connected back to who I am – I do not need to acquire taste as I know I am smelling good enough myself!
There does come a point that when we have reconnected to feeling great on the inside and all that takes us away from that feeling, it becomes easier to drop behaviours, emotions, patterns and habits to support the well being we feel. Kevin you have provided such a great example in this.
What a classic – “however I was able to persevere until I was a ‘connoisseur’”. That takes a lot of honesty and just goes to show that the body knows best, no matter how hard we try to fit in and do all those ‘normal’ things that everybody else does. And thus we join the club of body bashers until such time that enough is enough.
Yes Gabriele and if it wasn’t for Universal medicine I probably would have bashed that body until illness or disease took me down.
Kevin in one line you provide the greatest diet book of all “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.” super wise to listen to this.
“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.” When we come to this realisation it is so beautiful as we can choose to break away and make new loving choices in our life that become part of our rhythm. All these excessive symptoms are just warning bells that something is wrong and change is required..
These behaviours and ways of living become so ingrained in us that we grow to believe they are part of us, one and the same. The reality is they are just choices, and each moment there is a new opportunity to make another choice.
Amita this brings back a memory of the dreadful heartburn I would endure after indulging in red wine and cheese and other rich foods. Interestingly this symptom just quietly disappeared without fanfare once I removed these ‘acquired tastes’ from my diet.
I once went to an ‘all you can eat’ Mexican restaurant and ate all that I could and washed down with copious amounts of red wine, somehow thinking this was a Good idea. Well that night the heart burn was so bad I thought I was going to die. I know that if I did the same today I would die in an agonising way.
The games that play out in my mind that try and trick me into doing something my body will object to are totally obsurd sometimes and I have to laugh unless they succeed. It sometimes seems like the mind, is or should I say the spirit is the bodies oldest and worst enemy.
I agree – and taking it lightly and with a dose of humour sounds like a great recipe; Serge Benhayon presents that the body is the marker of all truth and your blog is a confirmation of that.
Everything in life becomes an acquired choice and it is our choice what this acquired choices are. Thank you Kevin for making it so simple for us for everything you say is simple and supportive and comes with a great wisdom for us all to see.
A timely blog for me to read again today. Having acquired the taste of many foods that do not benefit my body in any way I’ve come to the realisation although many foods are off the radar those that remain are those deeply ingrained favourites of my childhood. Overruling my taste buds through choice some habits continue – the next port of call the bowels these are amazing because if I do not listen/feel into continued old patterns of eating, these amazing bowels do not ‘hold’ on to the ingested material I have to listen and run fast. To stubbornly continue in this way they (the bowels) hang on for dear life. (constipation) this brings it back to your question Kevin “Why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?” Is it a wonder that dis-ease pays us a call. More self-loving choices is on my menu.
Yep even after writing this blog I still fall into the traps of the past or add new ones. There are these wraps from Sainsbury’s that are gluten, dairy and yeast free and yet my body doesn’t like them and still the convenience of them overrides and I eat them from time to time to my bodies dismay.
I can fully relate to your past life style Kevin. I had done something’s that passed the self-harm limit to the point I would push it to “if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger”. There were a few things I did that I just figured afterwards it was not my time… was the only reason I didn’t die. I also liked whiskey neat for your same reasons…but it took a lot of work to convince my body that drinking something that burned all the way down was a pleasurable experience. The things I have done to my self and body when I think back are scary! If I had not meet Serge Benhayon ten years ago I am sure I would just be another number on some statistic for deaths caused from bad life choices.
Steve, I was also on a road to an early grave from the ill health as a result of my lifestyle choices. If it was not for Serge Benhayon and Universal medicine I would not have healed the emotional hurt I was carrying or taken responsibility for myself. Now my doctor is envious of my vitality.
I really love that your Doctor is envious of your vitality Bernard, and it won’t be long before more people are cueing up to see why a bunch of people are so vital when the rest of the world are exhausted.
Kevin this has already started, people are becoming more and more aware of the vitality we are all living with and are being inspired to make changes. Eventually the societies will grow as exhaustion is something that needs to be removed and vitality will replace its place. It is just a matter of time, before you know it will spread, it just takes a few to start the ball rolling, and that has already started
You could always share your recipe with him. The (The Way of the Livingness) recipe of life that is.
An awesome blog thank you Kevin, I smiled in parts as it reminded me of my initial reactions to alcohol and certain foods as well. I recall the first time I tried a neat scotch to fit and be cool as well, I felt my throat was on fire and it felt like I was being tortured in someway as it tasted like fuel. I refused to drink scotch again but I still indulged in other spirits that tasted pretty gross as well but I persisted until they were easier to digest. I haven’t drunk alcohol for many years, but if I had honoured my body and not overridden the clear messages it was telling me I would have had touched alcohol in the first place.
“Why do we constantly override what our bodies are telling us in general?” This Kevin is a huge question and one that society would benefit greatly from pondering on. If we look at humanity as a whole self abuse is rife in many if not all countries, whether it be with sugar or any other substance.The more we override what our bodies are actually telling us the more we watch as illness and disease rates are soar.
“I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.” It is interesting, it’s often when I am hungry and have not nourished myself enough that I feel I miss the taste of something, if I then go and try it, my body doesn’t like it and actually my mouth doesn’t like it too. It’s like there’s a memory from the past I am holding on too. Most foods I let go of, if I try them again now no longer taste the way I thought they use too. So in truth I no longer need them.
I was watching a survival show and Bear Grylls was saying that when you are anywhere trying to survive the tell tail signs of what to eat and what not to eat is the small of it and then if it tastes bitter don’t eat it as it is probably poison, he doesn’t say just override it as your body will get used to it in time even though it will kill you in the end.
Yes it’s crazy Kevin how most of us put in this situation would absolutely freak out about the fact we could be eating something poisonous yet in truth every time we have caffeine, sugar, alcohol etc. we are poisoning ourselves.
“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?” This is such a great question to ask ourselves Kev, it is so prevalent in most peoples lives to completely ignore and dismiss what our bodies are saying. For instance I have been tracking what I eat and how I feel afterwards and there are certain foods that I am eating that every time I feel horrible after, yet I continue to eat them. So the deeper question, why, what I have noticed is that I have only been able to stop unloving things by upping the love I give myself, the more I care about myself the more I am willing to stop harming myself.
I have experienced the same Vanessa. I have often continued eating a food that I know does not sit well in my body just because I like the taste or am seeking comfort from the eating of it. Yet my body protests. Like you, when I up the love I give myself it becomes far easier to say no and stop the harm.
Great experiment vanessamchardy, putting it down on paper actually gives us no chance to over look or dismiss the way we feel afterwards. Similar to you, I have noticed the more I bring out my sensitivity through choices that respect the delicacy that I am, the more inclined I am to make choices that respect this sensitivity. For example, I can no longer eat nuts in their whole form because they are too hard for me to bite on, it hurts my jaws and stresses my jaw muscles. It’s interesting how we all will have our own reasons to give up certain ways or habits, but what they will all have in common is that it is our body that is asking us loud and clear to change the ways.
Vanessachardy I too have found that I can teach my taste buds to acquire a taste – which is in fact me de-sensitising them. Just a small amount of honey can set me off on weeks of sweet seeking, until I completely clear my palate for a few days. Similarly, though I’m not a great fan of salty chips, once I get the taste of salt started I find it hard to stop until the packet is emptied. Having sufficient love for myself is ultimately what gives me the ability to choose my food wisely.
I remember ‘acquiring’ the taste for whiskey. I actually thought it was awful, but convinced myself to keep going. It was typically a man’s drink, and I wanted to impress fellow drinkers with my ability to down, copious amounts of it. Looking back I can see how desperate I was to get recognition for being able to hold my drink and knock back spirits, all the while my body was feeling really awful and vomiting after a night of drinking was a common thing. Thank goodness I have come to my senses and have not drunk alcohol for over 10 years now. My body is much happier and healthier.
Your list of things you tried is interesting, Kevin, and I am reminded this morning that, whilst I never crave spinach, and can’t eat it anyway in large quantities because I’m on Warfarin, the things I crave are the things that I know are not good for me, such as sugar or chocolate. And my cravings vary depending on how I am in my life generally – when I’m feeling great I can walk down the supermarket aisle and nothing ‘calls’ me, when I’m tired, then the craving is there. I no longer crave cigarettes or alcohol, so I know that, once the cause of the craving is eliminated, I naturally won’t want sugary foods. So it is for me to explore and eliminate the deeper cause because the sugar eating is merely the symptom.
Kevin. You are an inspiration. And a genius exposer of the absurdities of life. I wonder if there is anyone, anywhere, who enjoyed their first taste of coffee? Surely no-one in the whole world would profess to having loved the first time they inhaled a lung full of cigarette smoke? As to cigars – I mean, seriously??!! Your brilliant blog lays it all out so crystal clear. The things we do to fit in, to fill the holes, to cover up the issues. It is so obvious. Yet so few of us see it. Massive thanks and appreciation of Serge Benhayon for inspiring me to wake back up to the truth that I felt when I too had my first cigarette, pint of bitter or cup of coffee. And thanks to you Kevin for writing such powerful and plain truth.
What you are sharing here, Kevin, is the fact that a lot of our gourmet products are related to a certain lifestyle.
Like you have shared with the whisky etc. I can see it in coffee and espresso, this transports clearly the Italian lifestyle, the whiskey is more English etc. I ask myself how much is our taste influenced by those lifestyle feelings?
Can it be that our taste is so transformed, that we cannot recognize anymore if the taste of a food has a harmonious taste or feels strange?
I love how my body is constantly talking to me when it comes to food. There are certain foods that I used to enjoy eating but now my body just says, I don’t need that anymore and there is no impulse or struggle to override that, it just feels like a natural progression as I allow my body to have its say more and more.
Julie I can relate to that the body does talk clearly, and I am too finding its a natural progression my body says I don’t need that food. The more we listen and allow the more the body supports.
Kevin I loved reading your blog ‘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?’ For me without Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, it would probably have taken many more years for me to understand what I was doing to my body.
That is true for myself also, I would only have questioned how I was living when I got sick with a ‘proper disease’ like cancer etc, my other ailments were some how beyond my control, I had ‘always’ had asthma, hay fever, weak chest etc so I never questioned my responsibility in how I lived to be affecting my health. The truth was I was living in a way that was so disregarding my body was getting rid of the ill way by the ill health. I truly thank god that I was given the opportunity to feel the truth of what was at play when I saw Serge speak 13 years ago and are now living without any of the previously mentioned ailments.
I find to really know something it has to be experienced. Often as an adult it is not until you stop doing something that you get to feel how lovely and thankful your body is without the pollution we call food, drinks, entertainment, exercise etc. I suspect I would not have given up gluten unless my body had made me, yet looking back I feel so much lighter and lovelier without it.
I find that the less sugar I eat – which for me now is only fruit – the less I crave it. It just goes to show that our taste buds crave what they are used to, which is not the truth of what our body actually needs.
There is a definite difference in the feeling of eating something that my body is asking for and what it is craving. Sometimes I have a hard time discerning between the two, but I know that there is a difference. Usually it is because when I crave something I am not actually hungry at the time, and my body is not asking of it for nourishment, but my mouth or my head is asking for it because I am looking for a taste or texture in my mouth.
and the next bit Naren is that your mind is getting to play the game of ‘I want, I want it!’ because we are feeling something we are trying to avoid feeling, we want to numb ourselves to what is happening within.
I agree with what you have said here Rebecca. My experience has been the same.
Yes Rebecca, it is our taste buds that crave the food and I am finding if we eliminate the food for a while, the taste buds change. If there are some foods I still crave after a while, then I know I have to look deeper and work on why the craving, as often there is a deeper reason, possibly a form of numbing and not wanted to feel.
So true Rebecca, we can easily become attached to food through stimulated taste buds.
Kevin, you remind me on my past – it was all about how food etc. tasted in my mouth. When it tasted good, I ate or drank it. Because I was only in my head at this time, I never felt the effect the substances had on my body. I didn’t care at all. Since I started to feel my body, everything is different now. I can feel now, what food or beverages do to my body. My body tells me exactly what it likes and what it doesn’t like. My body is now my greatest teacher and I’m very grateful, that I now listen to my body.
I was the opposite I never liked the taste of wine or beer I just wanted to be inebriated, and even then I wasn’t honest about where I was at I still thought I was perfectly normal! When the world around you is doing the same thing all the time it is very easy to believe that is the truth of things, when in fact it is the opposite, the reason I can say that so strongly is that my body is completely different having stopped the unloving normalised eating, drinking and now live with so much more ease in my body.
“Man up”, “suck it up” and the like are interesting phrases suggestive of keeping ourselves, in particular men, in a shield of insensitivity and what is particularly interesting is that they imply we know better – that we are sensitive and can feel the truth of how life is, yet must some how disband or ignore it in order to ‘get on’ with life. This is yet another example of Kevin’s great blog about telling ourselves how to live instead of exploring that that by honouring our sensitivity instead of fighting it, we may indeed find a more natural, harmonious, fulfilling and even sumptuous life right there under our noses.
Yes Simon that is the irony is that everything we are seeking in life is in fact already within and under our noses. Once we get our pride out of the way we can actually embrace the fact that we are pretty awesome and in fact divine in origins! It is striking how far from this fact we have wandered.
This is beautiful Kevin and a great inspiration for everyone. I was just talking to someone yesterday and we were reflecting on how the world is living and the food that is everywhere and how hard it is to go out when working in a shop in town and get anything healthy and not junk for lunch and snacks everywhere. The simple solution of preparing a nutritious meal at home to bring with one for the day and the quality and love put into this is all part of acquiring and new way of living that really is caring and this requires a dedication to oneself that is needed and well worth the health and vitality that comes with this when offered this reflection and becomes a choice as to how we live and what is really normal.
I too have found it very difficult to get a healthy lunch when out and about. I always bring my own lunch to work these days to guarantee I have something tasty and healthy to eat.
Reading several of these comments I notice that we have either ‘tried’ to fit in, to numb ourselves from feeling what our body is telling us, or actively pushed our bodies. It feels tragic that something so precious and amazing in it’s makeup could be so blatantly abused so very easily. On the other hand it must take an enormous amount of energy to be so disrespectful of ourselves and continue to do so for years and years and years – in fact for lifetimes! OUCH. No wonder we get sick and lifestyle illnesses are skyrocketing!
Gorgeous blog Kevin – I can so relate to the feeling of thinking you can just give things up that you know may be self-destructive, but for me it always takes someone to say something (often repeatedly!) or something to happen for me to stop or even put a pause on these behaviours – what is amazing is to have a community of people and especially Serge Benhayon and his family who are always there when needed, to speak up to you about what may be going on in your ‘internal world’, as there are not many other people who I know who would be as able to rock the boat like that.
Thank you for calling this to our attention Kevin – I think we have all done versions of this and not only with things we imbibe. Just the other day I listening to some ultra-marathon runners who were completely addicted to their sport despite the constant injuries, missing toenails and massive strain to their bodies. They described their sport as an exercise in ‘mind over matter’ – a constant denial of how their bodies would feel throughout. They would get over the finish line and suddenly feel all they had held at bay for the hours they had put their bodies on the back burner.
It strikes me we are all running ultra-marathons in the way we live – any time we put our bodies under any pressure that is less than natural, be it the wrong foods, poisonous beverages, sports, overwork, arguments… they are all abuses.
When I was younger I can remember being fed the line ‘mind over matter.’ The mind was championed and the body just had to put up with whatever we put it through. I’m thinking of smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs to name a few. The body does endure much, as in the case of marathon runners, and the many other unloving habits we have, but there is always a price to pay, and our bodies are constantly telling us. It’s only when we have a serious injury or illness that we possibly stop and take stock of what we are doing.
Yes Debra and Victoria, Mind over matter was championed as you could overcome anything with focus and determination, but it usually meant being stubborn and hard, ignoring all else to justify your actions. This blog clearly points out that our minds alone often make choices that are destructive to our bodies – My body is certainly a lot more honest than my mind and it pays to check each thought with feeling.
People are slowly waking up to the truth on how bad sugar is thanks to high profile people like Jamie Oliver bring attention to the seriousness of its effects on our health. This morning I was watching the news and Eddie Izzard was saying the importance of getting refined sugars out of the system completely to be able to run all these marathons he is running at the moment.
Great that he has given sugar the boot but it sounds like Eddie is swapping one addiction for the other! Funnily enough I wrote a comment below only earlier on an interview I heard with 3 ultra-marathon runners. It seems running too is an ‘acquired taste’, one in which the runners, by their own admission, push past what their bodies feel (for hours on end in this case) only to collapse at the finish line and live with an array of injuries. One has to ask: what on earth is this all for?
Running is certainly an acquired taste and so abusive to the body especially in Eddie’s case as he is running something like 27 marathons in as many days across South Africa for Comic Relief.
‘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’.’ I too have had a similar situation and now after making similar choices such as yourself, I can look back and see how small I was in trying to be this.
I am so pleased I have moved on from eating food because that’s all I can afford, it is easy to prepare or lazily eat out. Eating true for my body is my first priority. Nothing feels more glorious then to feel great by freely being able to stay connected and hold my awareness after I have eaten. Been bloated or having a food hangover brings me down.
I sometimes get the same reaction when grocery shopping and there are really only about four isles out of about forty that I need to go down. Does this mean that about ninety % of all the food in a super market is not really needed in our diets? When I think of that and all the food that gets wasted and then all of the people in the world living in poverty and those that are starving it really makes me realise how far from brotherhood and a true way of living we are.
Yes, that’s absolutely what it means! We have constructed an over-abundance of pseudo-foods that do nothing for us than please our palates and provide a means of entertainment, comfort, burying of feelings, distraction and so on. If the energies that went into their manufacture were put to better use I suspect we would be well on our way to alleviating food poverty.
I like how you have named the foods with little nutrition as ‘pseudo-food’ the little nutrition they contain is incidental as you have listed the emotional reasons they were created.
It’s a powerful point Kevin. But before we get into the seriousness of what you present I need to enjoy the humour of the 4-aisle shopping! Know exactly what you mean and absolutely adore the simplicity of what shopping now is. Anyway – back to your main point. This is yet another example of how everything is connected. Also important to consider the absolute abuse of both humans and the planet that are carried out to produce all this excess food.
Yes Kevin, if there is one isle that has the health food, what is in all the other isles? Some are completely dedicated to sugar and have no nutritional value in the whole isle.
Yes so true – and it is a great question isn’t it? Maybe this is something we could ask the supermarkets – what are you selling in your other aisles if this is the one with healthy food? 😉
Super-well called out Rik. Those 3 things you nominated – cost, ease and laziness are surely the biggest and often self-constructed barriers to good eating. How easy is it to grab a handful of than prepare a meal? Or skimp in some other way that holds us less? VERY – yet the outcomes are horrible – the food hangovers, the drop in awareness, bloating… these are all the price we pay for our irresponsibility.
Yes Rik. I spend many working days away from home or a kitchen, so the temptation and/or ease is to grab something convenient whilst on the go. And that was absolutely how it used to be. But for a few years now, I have been spending time at the beginning of each day preparing my food and carrying it with me. It takes very little time, it is an absolute pleasure to do and the feed-back of the self-love when I eat it is amazing.
Well said Rik, especially this point you raise is easy felt once chosen to eat what we feel instead of what we think or need : ”and hold my awareness after I have eaten”. This is a big one, for example after I quit drinking coca cola, I could feel instantly more on the floor and less racy in my head. Can you imagine what foods can do to our heads, minds, and whole body. Wise choice to eat what truly supports our body to live , and not to break it down. I am now starting to feel what supporting my body looks like ; eating when to eat, what to eat – pure by how it feels in my tummy instead of my mouth! That is one for starters.
This is beautiful Kevin showing us that everything is an aquired taste and depending on where you are coming from that is either harmful or supportive for our bodies . However what is currently out there as what is good for us and what is harmful is upside down and has to be discerned as to what is behind the current ideals and beliefs we are offered.
Feeling our bodies and building a body of love marks the way for changes to a loving body and our knowing and choices can then come from there.
So true Gill. Once it’s all addressed and changed, it feels beautiful.
Awesome Kevin. It’s so true, on so many things it requires a perseverance as our body’s would say no obviously otherwise. I loved this simple, no fuss approach to taking care of yourself ” 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.” easy ??
Kevin, for aeons we have lived as a family and society following what others do so called moving forward and what is known to be right ‘the acquired taste’ and not actually what is true for our bodies. Our feelings and our natural expression is squashed early on by this ‘right’ behaviour. Our parents are the first we trust and follow too, if they have not honoured their bodies we are already set up to follow suit.
Oh yes, Rik – that expression – “acquired taste”. Coffee, wine, whisky etc…”You’ll get used to it, it’s an acquired taste”. How insane is it that we over-rule what was so loudly shouting at us? And how insane is that we aspire to liking this stuff that our body so obviously hates? To me it is such a powerful exposure of how I was feeling as a young man growing up. Desperate to have an identity, to fit in, to be cool, to…and, as you say, when our parents, peers and heroes are doing it, then is it any wonder that we force our bodies to follow suit.
I can look back at the madness of my approach to life through my teens and twenties, when I chose to do and ingest things that instantly hurt me. I am amazed at my persistence in this when my body was always keen to show me what was really going on. Wind forward a decade (or two) and working alongside Universal Medicine I am somewhere very different – self-respect, self-care, responsibility and an ever increasing love of life mean I no longer want to hurt me – it really is that simple.
As teenagers we can’t be told anything and think we are being so rebellious by doing all these harmful things but as we get older we should know better but still we can carry such habits that we pick up to the grave, or they are the things that put us there. That’s where Universal Medicine is the key that opens the door to an entirely different approach and you realise all these things you have been doing are just keeping you from discovering the real truth about life.
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? This is a great point you make here Kevin, we have this amazingly sensitive body that is talking to us all of the time but life and our stuff seem to just get in the way of making more honouring choices all around. It seems our needs and plans that we have, don’t consider the body at all, which is funny really when it is the very thing that helps us do all of those things.
It feels so great when we finally pull in the reigns and take command of what we are consuming. We can know that what we are doing is harming us but the behaviour just keeps on running. It is easy to make the excuse of ‘tomorrow, tomorrow’, but ultimately it is today and right now that we can decide to make choices that support us. When we finally do this it feels absolutely amazing.
Kevin thanks, I never thought of the ‘acquiring of taste’ for some of these things as overriding the body’s dis-taste, and therefore a form of self-abuse, but you are spot on. Self-abuse comes in many and varied forms… and you have just highlighted one more.
It occurs to me that we can have a taste for many things in life, including emotional drama, and how this can be just as addictive as any caffeinated drink or nicotine. Because like these other substances, emotional drama has the ability to take us away from being aware of our human frame. So could it be that emotional drama is just as much of a poison, but we can train ourselves to enjoy it?
This blog assist to redefine the true nature of what we term addiction. Addiction in its simplest is simply a behaviour that we become comfortable with.
And use in life as a go to to not feel what is actually going on.
Forcing myself to smoke cigarettes at 14 years of age when my body was screaming no is the same now as when I eat something that has nothing untoward on the label but my body is still screaming no – the body is amazing.
It tells us so much ! It’s super amazing. And it works so hard, even when we are super uncaring towards it.
It feels to me that so many of the things that we indulge in and which are to our own detriment are things we had to struggle to ‘acquire the taste’. We had to push paste our bodies natural responses to them and then for some these things feel irremovable from our lives later on.
The Body simply know what is good for it and what not. This is a great point you make here Kevin. We make our body to consume things which it really doesn’t like.
I agree Kevin the loving inspiration offered by Serge Benhayon’s presentation is true support to choose self-loving ways to care for ourselves. No one else can do this for us, it is our choice. Once chosen and lived with as much consistency as possible it becomes simpler and then so much more accessible, becoming ‘first nature’ and loving nurture.
I was always surfing on a wave of my momentum with blinkers on, not knowing that the choice to stop was just that, a choice. Serge very lovingly over time showed me that there was a choice and all I had to do was make it.
It is definitely a loveless mind choice when we choose to consume things that our bodies most definitely do not thrive well on as our naturally loving bodies, would not be a part of that choice if we let it have its say.
Yes Julie, and it is no different to our willingness to override how we are feeling in relation to anything, something we do all too often when giving way to beliefs and ideals we think we need to live up to, rather than staying with what is true.
That’s the thing Kevin ‘thinking we are bulletproof.’ When we make choices to consume food, drink, cigarettes or drugs that we know are harming to our bodies we think of the ‘fitting in,’ ‘the making do with what’s available’ and the distraction from our emptiness and hurts but we don’t think of the toll (whether immediate or gradual) that it will take on our bodies.
The thing is when we are young our bodies are most forgiving and it appears we are getting away with the barrage of abuse we sling at ourselves but the truth is we get away with nothing and it all catches up on us in the end unless sound loving choices are made.
I agree Kathryn as long as the body is functioning we think we can get away with consuming food which is not good for us or other loveless behavior. I work in a clinic for people with burn out and hear stories where people have pushed their body for many years working so hard and they thought they can continue like this. But this is not the case- the body breaks down at some point and this is not a pleasant stop. So it is much wiser to start listening to our bodies and what it tells us now and not wait until an illness makes us stop.
Such wise words, Kevin. It did feel as though I could keep abusing my body and I still had plenty of stamina left. It was actually only after I stopped smoking and drinking when I realised how exhausted I was, and how that was the constant normal for me. It made me confused because it looked like alcohol and cigarette were what kept me ‘well’ but I could no longer ignore that I never liked them in the first place, no matter how attractive the numbing effect they were having on me.
Why do we push and fight and force ourselves to like or do things that are unnatural to us? It seems crazy, BUT we’re doing it all of the times in all areas of life. Kevin’s blog shows us that there is a much more self- respecting way to live.
‘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.’ This is a great myth busting sentence. We are not stuck in patterns for life unless we choose to be and we are never too old to affect change that will improve our health
Well said ! We think the aches and pains are normal and are there for life. But this is not the case- far from it. Our body’s have the potential to feel amazing day in and day out if we only choose to listen to it.
Some things taste nice and are bad for us and somethings smell nice that are bad for us and somethings used to be good for us and no longer serve the same purpose,so the only way of knowing what rolls for us truly is trusting all of our senses all six of them.
And making sure we are paying attention to all the cues from our bodies all of the time. I am finding this a really inspiring and dynamic relationship to have with my body, that actually enhances so many areas of my life beyond the question of self-care.
I find it interesting how as adults, if you have had a diet of coffee and alcohol and chocolate and sweets etc, it can be very hard to enjoy things that are healthy like fruit, veg, smoothies or granola – often called rabbit food, because your taste buds are not used to the natural and often more subtle flavour. And yet a child brought up with a very natural diet of veg and fruit and meat with little processed sugars will find them to be very tasty. We can chose how we want to approach food, and eating healthily can be just as much a choice as not.
Too true Rebecca, our taste buds do adjust to whatever we eat, and certain foods or additives to food have a huge impact on our ability to taste less subtle flavours in foods. Sugar and salt are two of these, they act like sledge hammers to the taste buds, which after their assault, don’t notice the subtleties of many of the healthier food our bodies prefer.
I am acquiring a taste for inner stillness although sometimes despite my willingness to embody it, stillness is allusive because of the life-long momentum of anxiousness in my body. But stillness tastes so good, it is something I savour above all other substances and it is a matter f saying no to anxiousness promoting choices and letting stillness build in my body. It is so worth it to develop a taste for presence and stillness and self-love and care and harmlessness and to let go of all that tastes less divine.
It’s true that we can feel imprisoned by the things that we crave if we allow them to dictate our choices. But we do have a choice not to play this game as Kevin has so beautifully shared.
Yes, the key is identifying why you feel imprisoned and unable to get by without a particular substance.
As time goes by and I am a million miles from the person who was out there trying to fit in and be cool. You absolutely are Kevin, as who you are now choosing to be is so beautifully reflected in your picture for us all to feel.
‘I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.’ – I feel this is such an important point in relation to how we see many things in our lives. Do we just look at what we initially perceive things to be or are we willing and open to look (and feel) a little deeper into what the truth is behind are initial assumptions and beliefs.
Yes great point Michael, looking back at most of the foods I have left behind, while I might think I miss the taste, and this part is true, it is just the tip of the iceberg, as what that food then did in my body I most definitely do not miss.
When I remember that part, the momentary taste in my mouth becomes a far less appealing prospect, and the choice to say no is effortless.
I agree Monica that nobody likes to be the minority and the fear of being different or standing out or going against the majority can be strong. However when we learn to connect and confirm ourselves as you say this feels so amazing that it becomes more powerful and necessary to honour this than the fear of being different.
I remember the first time I tried to smoke a cigarette in my teens and I could barely get any of it in my lungs, such was the violent reaction of coughing and spluttering as my body did everything it could to keep such a noxious substance away from it! There was a similar reaction to the first time I drank wine or beer. However rather than celebrating how honest and caring my body was, I remember feeling more embarrassed than anything else and determined to ‘be cool’ my learning how to smoke or drink without coughing or gagging. It is amazing that we actually think to harm our bodies is cool and something to be looked up to!
It’s this whole thing of it been a sign of being grown up, adult like or it is very acceptable in various cultures, I wonder what drove the first person to ever inhale smoke into their lungs on purpose and then convince others that it was a good idea.
‘Mind over matter’ I believe the saying goes…. our bodies and therefore our particles are always telling us the truth of what is good for us and what is not, but we can use our minds to over-ride this and frequently do, much to detriment or our own health and wellbeing and everyone elses.
I would say the power of choice is underrated by many “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.” It is clear that your life has utterly changed through making different choices. Choices appear to be miracle makers, but these changes are only called miracles because they are so rare in this world, at the moment. But choice is powerful and inspiring and the call to change our choices is at the core of our being. I too have made choices that have brought me back to life: vital, healthy and wise where once I was exhausted, bloated and insecure…
Samantha I agree with you, having been in many situations where I would claim I had no choice or that making a choice was too hard I had not fully appreciated that I do have a choice, a choice to feel what my body is telling me rather than ignoring this. No matter what is going on I can choose to be true to that. Or I can force myself to override what my body feels as Kevin has shared end up with “acquired tastes”. So In simple terms our choices have the power to change the world.
Very true Kevin, why are we given such sensitive taste buds if all we do is override them …our taste buds are giving us a message to let us know that what we are about to put in our mouth is not going to be great for the body. Alcohol is a great example, unless it is sweetened with additional flavours it is sharp, bitter and quite disgusting to taste but we insist on overriding and acquiring a taste for it, just so we can fit in and be part of the crowd.
Great question 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?’ – Why do we ignore this?
These truly are very pertinent questions to ask ourselves. What energy is driving this, that we will engage in things that we know are poison to our body!
Yes, and it amazes me that there are foods and drinks we just wouldn’t give to our children, and yet, we don’t question consuming as adults – Coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, just to begin… Do our bodies tolerate things differently as adults? No, actually… do our lungs or nervous systems become less delicate and precious? No.
So what happens from child to adult that we give ourselves permission to abuse our bodies in the way we do?
This is such a great topic. Once I craved so many things. These days, I cannot believe I once craved such food. Our body is extremely adaptable in more ways than we realise. It is in some ways a blessing, and in other ways a curse. If our bodies for example were not able to adapt to handle and process something as toxic as alcohol – if it were a death sentence let us say to do so, if our liver could not process it – in many ways we would be better for it.
This is so true Adam, if the body could just shut down or go on strike each time we tried to poison it we would probably be far better off. Although if you look at it the body is such a perfect vehicle, why change a thing, we only need to look more closely at how we look after it.
Kevin what a great question you raise about our tastebuds – why do we over stimulate them sooo much with sugar, salt, bitter coffee, burning alcohol, dry smoke and whatever else we can find? Having been a smoker I was astonished when I stopped just how much more alive my taste buds were – food became an entirely new experience.
What I have learned is that everything I do impacts my body, either supporting it to restore and heal or working against its natural systems and rhythm? Self love is simply learning to care for every part of you deeply so – it constantly refines everything and restores our natural vitality and joy into our body. Sounds great yeah? Of course it does – who wouldn’t want to feel great consistently so. The issue I see in the world is that there is not much of a willingness to listen to our bodies care deeply for ourselves, our education system focuses more on gaining knowledge than learning to love yourself. Competitive sport places the focus on winning or pushing yourself to get through rather than learn to listen to your body. Business asks us to perform to keep up with KPIs with no consideration of the natural rhythm and cycles of life. Rhythm is a constant ebb and flow of knowing when it’s time to really get into life and go for it and equally when to rest and not engage so much with the world around us. So we are not fostered to care deeply for ourselves hence it is up to us to choose this for ourselves. But without feeling the inspiration and benefits of living such a way, why would you chose to live differently to almost everything you have known and been taught? Hence the power of inspiration we offer one another through love… without the inspiration I received from Serge Benhayon, the purple books he has written and Esoteric Healing – I would be living a much more destructive life.
You said it Abby we have to choose these things for ourselves and it absolutely did take Serge Benhayon to seriously see the errors of my ways. So many of these self destructive and unloving things we do are still so very socially acceptable and the cost to our health is huge both physically and monetary.
The rock star lifestyle can seem well and good when your young but it is not long before the body begins to show signs of the utter trauma and disregarding way you have treated it. And as you say the monetary costs are ENORMOUS not only on the health system (we are spending $billions of dollars annually on lifestyle related disease) but also personally. It can seem impossible to ‘get ahead’ in life and own our own home for example. I was however shocked when I calculated an estimate of the money I spent on drugs and alcohol up to the age of 25. It was over $40,000! and I was a low income earner in this time. This money could have been a deposit on a house or used to support and care for my body at least. And so there are many changes required to be made all of which begin from a moment of inspiration.
Great point Abby it is ridiculous when we stop to consider just how much money we spend on things that are completely unnecessary and not only that completely harmful to our health which in the end will cost more money to remedy due to the illness and disease we end up with by consuming these substances.
‘My dad wouldn’t eat it but it was quite often on my sandwiches for school..’ Even in those instances where we do not like a particular food or drink ourselves we perceive this as being abnormal because of the main consensus of opinion and so invalidate our own knowing from our bodies happy still to promote that particular food, drink or activity to others including our family and children.
“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.” Thank you for this statement, it is gold. It shows us that we reap what we sow and that it is always a matter of choice, every step of the way.
When we are truly self loving we honour the messages from our bodies which may say that this food or drink is not okay but because in the past I overrode what my body was telling me I realise just how far away from “me ” that I have been.
Being truly self loving makes such a difference – I have days when I crave certain foods and know that it’s because I’m exhausted so I can simply observe without judgement and look at what I have done that caused the exhaustion. When I am more self loving, it’s not even an issue, I can walk past the foods in the supermarket and feel no inclination to buy and eat them.
I agree Carmel it is not about just quitting something because it is bad for us or denying ourselves something like some kind of torturous battle with our urges and cravings. It is about developing a deeper relationship with ourselves which eliminates the source of the cravings in the first place. Then things just naturally drop away without any effort or struggle.
“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 questions to ask ourselves and to discuss with others because it would seem like listening to our taste buds and our body in general would be truly obvious and natural actions to take, but like many people, I know I have spent the best part of my life ignoring the very obvious, it’s perplexing as to why we do it, and continue doing it even when our bodies are screaming loudly for us to stop.
Kev, what an amazing blog… heading for 50 and NO midlife crisis, that has to be looked at more closely. “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.” It really does just boil down to choice, you’ve clearly illustrated this here.
“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?” This is a great question to ask Kevin and it seems we are so sunk in overriding what we feel that we don’t want to go there and ask the question in the first place. It’s great that you have and have shared that is was quite likely a lack of self-love and self-worth that caused you to make the decisions you did. You show that by working on self-worth and self-esteem will cut the desire to drink and eat food that the body does not want to ingest.
It is interesting to look back on the things we ate, drank and did in the name of “fitting in” and to be “social”; I shudder at some of the choices I made.
Thankfully today we can make free, wise and loving choices. I am grateful for the wise, consistent and loving council of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
A great blog to ponder on Kevin.
How strange that we separate from our natural body wisdom which actually offers such strong sensations to us about what it likes and what it does not? Granted our first food is fatty and sweet, but alcohol? caffeine? Vegemite? Not to mention all the odd and bizarre extreme exercise and sport options which our bodies tell us are painful or dangerous in so many ways. And we go right on ignoring our bodies, thinking somehow overriding them is good for us. Really bizarre!
I love the incredulity of ‘Really bizarre!’, Simon. And to see our folly in this light is an invitation to review and change the way we behave.
I have heard people say how we can let our own body be a science experiment. This is true evidence-based research, in that what is published can often be conflicting but we can’t argue the first-hand evidence of our own body’s communication through signs and symptoms.
It is so simple but we do shy away from the simplicity of listening to our bodies.
One thing I’ve noticed when making the choice for myself about not drinking certain things, is that it allows another person to also choose what they really feel to drink or not. In other words they don’t feel pressured to fit in and go along. Sometimes people will actually say – they are pleased there wasn’t a pressure to drink alcohol.
This is very powerful and much needed in groups young and old. It breaks the peer group pressure and allows people to feel like they have a real choice. It makes a big difference to people seeing others as living examples of taking responsibility and making their own choices especially when there is pressure. It gives them permission to be true and not play silly games with pressure and control.
The examples of whiskey and cigars are fantastic – the body is very clear as to how it feels about these things. Do we think we are so smart we know better than the body?
When reading this I realised with quite a shock the truth of what you are saying. These things we pretend we develop an acquired taste for actually taste disgusting! I no longer drink but I used to. I’m not sure why I even did as I didn’t like what it did to me and now with all honesty I can say that I never enjoyed the taste nor did I ever really want to drink.
“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.” Hear hear!
Indeed – hear hear! So grateful for all they bring, offering us another way of living.
“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.” I can relate to some of what you say. I lost a stone that was not moving for a few years, all my bloating disappeared, my complexion changed and I feel and look 10yrs younger too. It does make so much of a difference when we listen to what our bodies are saying. Food is one of the biggest causes of imbalance.
It’s true that we have to train ourselves to like the taste of certain things, and that in these cases our taste buds were trying to warn us off things. This is less obvious in the case of sweet things. As children we love sweets and chocolate. It is not a taste we have to become acquired to. We love it instantly and crave more. I know now though that when I have been without sweet things for a while that anything packed full of sugar is far too sweet for me. I still crave sugar through fruit though this is becoming less. It just shows us how we can be tricked and tantalised by taste when it is in fact not what our bodies actually need.
I can relate to this, Kevin. Coffee in the beginning tasted horribly, but I got used to it because all my collegues drank coffee. The same with alcohol.,It was just cool to drink alcohol in the evening sitting in a bar, so I did it as well.
I can see how I tried to adjust myself to the adult and so called normal world and not did stick to my own feelings and sensations, what my body was telling me. Today I relearnt this, that my body is the marker of everything, be it concerning foods and liquids, be it in exercising and sports or in other situations.
There is such association with certain behaviours we have also, for example my beloved morning cafe ritual where I would meet my fellow community members and have a chat… a speedy one. Or the dinner party with the wine and food. A lot of what I really loved was the connection with people not the beverages. It is interesting how it can be seen that one is missing out if they don’t indulge in these choices.
Children wouldn’t dream of drinking or smoking some of the substances we do. As you say Kevin our behaviours really are acquired. I remember my first puff of a cigarette and how truly digesting it tasted and I nearly choked in the process. I was a school at the time and it was the cool thing to do, breaking all the rules. Then there was alcohol which tasted awful also but you could choose it riddled with sugar so you didn’t taste it. It is crazy how a lot of these early choices that are made to fit in and be considered ‘normal’. The unfortunate thing is they can become habits into the future which can cause havoc in our bodies. If we truly feel our bodies it would not be possible to continue these behaviours.
I remember well Kevin, trying a cigarette and after a few giving up because I really found it disgusting, and I had no idea how to smoke and could not draw into my lungs, my body did not want to do it. I have much to thank my body for that. With alcohol it took a little longer, I did not drink much but my parents allowed me to drink cider and sherry from about aged 15. I enjoyed the taste but didn’t really like the muzzy out of myself feeling they gave me, but I persevered because it made me feel part of the social world around me, but never drank more than two drinks. I have to appreciate myself and my body when I finally saw and felt at a Hogmanay party in Scotland what alcohol did to people, and how they changed and became totally disrespectful, and very often amorous in a sleazy way, and later when I experienced a lot of pain in my kidneys from drinking red wine with a meal, I gave it up. Now food is a different matter, and that is my addiction — the taste first. Most of us have something that catches us out and we go to for comfort and to numb our feelings, and comes from just the same energy as other forms of self abuse. So no judging or feeling superior than others who have seemingly taken a more abusive road; we are all equal in this.
I can remember the first time I started smoking it was after school and I remember thinking how utterly rank and wondered how anyone could do it… fast forward a year or so a year later and I was smoking regularly every day this continued on and off for many years. It wasn’t until I started reading The Way it is by Serge Benhayon that something shifted and I again started to listen to my body and stopped overriding it, it was then that I stopped for good and have never felt the urge since.
A thought provoking blog Kevin on how we don’t naturally align with the taste of many things that we ‘think’ we should, for so many differing reasons. How great is it that you have let go of these acquired tastes that were, in truth, tasting not so good after all. It’s amazing what we can make ourselves believe to fulfil a need, thank you for sharing.
Great blog Kevin, down to earth and very relatable. I can relate to trying various substances which did not agree with me but I persevered anyway, regardless of the awful taste and the physical effects on my body, which were clearly telling me that I was poisoning myself.
Maybe when we allow ourselves to actually taste the foods we eat, in this moment we are choosing love. Because with the truth of what we are tasting and putting in to our bodies, there can be little room for denying what is felt and pushing past what the body does and does not want inside of it. So perhaps the love comes from listening to what the body says, by how it responds.
We can acquire the taste for just about anything if we persevere whether it is good or bad, the first time I tried Roobos tea I thought it was absolute rubbish but that has now, taken the place of my coffee and caffeinated tea so the comfort has just moved to something else.
I smoked my first cigarette at 14, it was vile, I coughed, felt dizzy and it tasted yuk but I wanted to be seen as mature as the other girls I was hanging out with, so I persevered, smoking regularly from 16 onward…… for 30 years, damaging my lungs in the process, so what you’re saying Kevin is so true, we can acquire a taste for just about anything, no matter good or bad, if we just persevere.
I definitely made myself acquire the taste for alcohol – there was too much riding on it not to – being accepted by my peers. Same for smoking cigarettes and marijuana. I even remember getting advice about alcohol – start with the sweeter drinks like cider and sweet white wines. Coffee however was a massive disappointment for me so I never even went there after my first sip. Urghh – smelled soooo good but the taste was disgusting to me. It just goes to show me how it’s nothing to do with the thing we acquire the taste for, but the reason we feel we have to. In my case I had moved loads growing up, always having to make new friends and fit in, so being accepted by my peers for drinking and smoking was to me essential. Coffee didn’t have the same pressure on it so I took one sip and listened to my body thereafter.
And it is all or nothing, this is the thing that we find hard to accept, that we actually have to let go of things in full to allow for the beauty and freedom to emerge on the other side.
Very cool Kevin, I totally agree! I remember proudly saying to peers that if you can get through the first few drags of a cigarette then you’re on your way! And I only ever liked coffee with milk, so really it was the milkiness that kept me hooked – and converting to decaf and then chai in efforts to give up coffee. I have finally realized that the milkiness keeps me checked out and I want to be checked in to life. We adopt the foods and behaviours as you suggest which form part of a lifestyle we aspire to and this is what requires updating, letting go of, this picture of how we thought life was meant to look. When we do, inspired by the true role models we now have in the Benhayon family and Student Body, we are free to live our lives as our divine bodies were intended.
Interesting how we lie to ourselves and are not prepared to realize and see that we do know.
I used to go for cakes and ice-cream for comfort food now I go for peas and almonds! When we truly assess why we eat certain foods we become all the more wiser and gives us that opportunity to break negative behaviours.
Why do we think that what is not good for us when we are kids, like alcohol, cigarettes, certain foods – can be good for us when we are adult? I can exactly remember too, that I had to attune to a taste of a certain food or drink, to be able to consume it. This was with smoke, alcohol, milk, butter and some more. Actually a lot of which I today have abandoned again because they do not support me and my body.
Very good point Sonja. As a parent of a small child I am very clear with him about what is and isn’t good for his body. Some things he can explore (like sugar) and work it our for himself but no way would I ever let him near a cigarette. So why does that become ok as an adult?
All of life is in truth an acquired taste. We get comfortable with what is familiar, and what is familiar then becomes our living truth. And will defend it to the hilt, for if there is one thing the human being prizes it is familiarity.
Well said Adam. And if someone has gone through the process of acquiring such a taste and overridden their body to do so, the defence is strong. Admitting another way can be quite exposing and so defending is much more comfortable.
Self love and self worth are deciding factors when it comes to stopping self abuse. Many people I know say they want to give up alcohol , drugs or what ever abusive behavior they have but are unable to because they do not have enough self love to deal with the feelings that come up when they no longer use substances or behaviors that have previously kept them from surfacing. It was only when I came to Universal Medicine and learnt through presentations on how to self-love did I truly begin to heal the abusive way I was living.
Love this it is the true marker of change it starts with one step of self-love and unfolds…this is so wisely and simply expressed. Thank You.
Self love; It’s a failsafe method to heal abusive behaviours…I wonder why it hasn’t been the foremost prescribed treatment for all addictions? Perhaps it’s because those that support us with our problems haven’t yet applied this to their own lives and it currently is not on our human radar to even look for it? How amazing is it then that Universal Medicine has brought this to our attention and shown what living with self-love actually looks like.
This is a really great point, I saw a thing, possibly on Facebook about addiction and how loads of soldiers in the Vietnam war were taking heroine but when they came back only a percentage of them remained or became addicts and those returning to loving family situations didn’t. Also when people are in hospital after accidents or serious operations they can be on diamorphine for long periods of time without becoming addicts. Addictions definitely need to be looked at in a different light and adding self-love would be a good start in any treatment.
Brilliant article Kevin. As a child I too remember persevering with foods that my body, just did not want. Cheese, ice-cream and milk -– day of any sort. many fruits and sugar. I didn’t like sweet things. And then later on, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes.
Amazing how I battled through to consume these things to fit in, fill emptiness and comfort myself. Well things have certainly changed – no more comfort food and a whole lot more of me!
I can’t remember battling to eat things that didn’t support my body. I remember battling to eat the dinners that were over-cooked and full of resentment at having to provide yet another meal, with no help from the family. But as far as I can recall, I loved dairy from a young age, the comforting creaminess it gave me. Now when I look at creamy things my stomach says no way. I am so glad my body can speak loudly again!
What I have noticed in this blog Kevin, is that there is no glorification of the old good times when you talk about them. This is something I notice when people talk about their pasts and talk with something similar to joy and lightness about how they used to abuse themselves and you can still feel some proud about it; some emotional engagement with it.
Reading your comment Eduardo, I realise that sometimes when I talk about my past there is still a glorification energy that I have about some parts of it. This has made me realise that I haven’t fully renounced some of these things and I have a bit of work around this to do.
After a while it becomes clear that the “good old times” were actually not good at all, but due to our “acquired tastes” were what we thought we were supposed to do. My good old times were awful.
I agree Heather. On looking back the good old times were not what we wanted them to be. They never left me feeling complete and there was always a need to go further, to be or do more. The fillers I used such as relationships, alcohol and food left me feeling empty.
And that is the beauty of observing compared to absorbing Eduardo. When we observe we can just look to the facts and the energies we where wielding at those times. But what you say Donna I know too, that there are moments in my past I am longing which are not from a detached observation but from a glorification instead and then I know that here is some work to be done as glorification is nothing compared to the beautiful life I have without it.
The body gives us mainly one opportunity to stop what we are initiating. The first reaction after the first cigarette inhale is the only true one how the body feels about it. The first reaction after you have alcohol for the first time is the true about how the body really feels about what you are doing. If you persist, the body just says to you, ok, and silently says: proceed but be warned that this will come back to you sooner or later. So, fascinated by an image (the wine connoisseur, the sophisticated cigar smoker, etc) you feel free to drive in the direction of becoming the picture yourself, and this is the only thing that there is. Hence, you keep driving dismissing the message of the yellow lights and some times even going through red ones and feeling even more alive and motivated because you feel you are getting away with what you are doing. The wish to be in the picture is a killer.
I agree Eduardo, the body’s reactions to that very first cigarette are true and honest, a strong force is needed to be dishonest enough to take another puff.
Just goes to show that what we let govern us does not want us any good at all, yet we allow it and say yes to it; therein lies our responsibility. How awesome when we can pull the plug on that ‘governing force’ and it can just dribble away to where it came from …
Stunning comment Eduardo.
I love this analogy Eduardo. Our body does give us many yellow and red lights when we are on the wrong track. It is the picture we have of how we think we need to look that keeps us running the red lights. Luckily when you start to respect and be with our body more, the power of the pictures diminishes as the loveliness and completeness of just being you takes precedence.
So true Eduardo. Yes that picture that we aspire to is a killer. In truth we never get away with anything. There is a definite physical consequence for every choice which can build up over time until we get sick. The picture may take precedence for a while, but in the end our bodies have the last say.
Just as much as we acquire the taste for and then indulge in things we consume which do not support our bodies, I have acquired the taste for unhealthy relationships because they felt comfortable. I have also indulged in emotions, difficulties and dramas, drive and being hard on myself! There is more, I have acquired the taste of being the loner, isolated, having to do it all, when my true nature loves to connect and be with people. All for the waywardness of being something, everything but living the true love that I am, which simply is enough.
How wonderful Adele that a you have expanded this discussion to include the behaviours and choices we make which are also poison to our bodies. I have also indulged in relationships that were not loving and allowed me to keep spinning in circles rather than getting on with being the light and love I am here to be. Through our experiences in life and our past choices we are often drawn to indulge in many acquired tastes, often causing us to act in the complete opposite of our true nature.
Thanks Kevin, I remember trying beer as a child and being shocked at how foul it tasted – surely the adults weren’t drinking this! I knew how it tasted but alas the picture of who I thought I could be by drinking beer was quite strong, the same with sneaking and trying cigarettes – so I continued. It seems that the pictures we aspire to have a strong hook as opposed to simply listening to and respecting the body and how we truly feel about things. I’m sure if I had have had a great sense of self worth I would have not been chasing after becoming one of the various marketed images we see regularly that literally get imprinted into our brains as “the way to be”.
Love this simple and refreshing blog Kevin. It sounds like you have completely turned your life around by getting honest with your body.
The feeling when we get honest with our body and action our honesty is so awesome when followed consistently. It makes me wonder how we could have done anything else ever …
Your question Kevin is simply brilliant – one I’ve never heard asked before, “why are we given such sensitive taste buds?” Overriding this area of delicate sensory intelligence is like overriding other areas of delicate sensitivity we have – our bodies as you mention and our feelings. What is it about humans that we have an amazing interconnected highly intelligent and perceptive system that relies on our sensitivity yet we at best ignore it and then think nothing of disregarding and abusing it. And this is how we treat oursleves, how is it we will treat another?
I used to watch my goat selecting very carefully which weeds and foliage to eat. She would never take anything that was slightly toxic to her body, and took great care to nurture herself. Even though we are considered the higher species, we actually choose to override our tastebuds and body and make our ourselves very ill.
Absolutely Sandra, there are many who abuse and attack their sensitivity out of not being able to handle what they feel but so many more who have mastered doing just enough by way of disregard to simply turn down and numb their sensitivity. I used to do both a lot and still do at times. It is really interesting that although the things I do are different as I have moved on the choice is the same. To stay with and honour what I feel or to look for a way out.
Gorgeous and very true all of what you share Kevin. I can absolutely relate to pushing though the initial taste and body reactions for all the same reasons.
Yes – thank God for all Serge Benhayon presents, that there is another way and that way comes from caring for ourselves not abusing ourselves.
Great revelations in this blog. We often believe things to be true simply because we have learnt to be familiar with them. But familiarity is not truth, it is simply familiarity.
The word familiar derives from famulus “servant, slave.” We establish a relationship with something we choose to abuse ourselves that while serves the purpose, it also enslaves us (by choice).
Eduardo I love what you have shared about self-abuse being a self imposed prison, and it is very revealing and profound that the truth of the word familiar is embedded in our language.
That’s so revealing Eduardo. There is so much etymology can show us if we take the time to truly understand the words we are using to narrate our lives.
Some familiarity is highly valued as “tradition” mainly because of its age, but as you say Adam, it is not truth, but just something we have been doing for a long time that has become familiar. When we really stop to look at it, or taste it, its impact on our bodies will quickly tell us that old or not, its not what our body wants.
Well put Adam – just because it’s familiar or ‘tradition’ or because ‘it was always done’, has nothing to do with what’s truth at all.
Monica I agree it’s actually absurd how we persevere with things that our bodies have clearly said that they dislike. There can’t be one smoker who can honestly say that they enjoyed their first cigarette but we keep lighting them up and inhaling until the body becomes dependent and then welcomes the inhalation of smoke. How strong must our beliefs and/or our need to numb be that we will willingly and force-ably fight our own bodies resistance to persevere with behaviours that the body is rejecting. Our poor, poor bodies.
This is such a great topic Kevin and everything you share simply makes sense. An acquired taste to consume things and ignore our tastes and what our body is telling us really does take acquiring and is a fascinating subject. Your inspiration in giving these things up by building your self worth and self esteem and living lovingly really is beautiful to feel and a great reflection. I see it is your new way of living and the choices you are making that really does support more loving choices and becomes a way of life gradually more and more that allows a consistency to build up supporting you all the way.Beautiful.
acquired taste = self- abuse disguised under the name of the pleasures of life. That is why it flies under the radar and no one will dare to question whatever you do in that realm.
I love that Eduardo- it ought to be listed like that in any dictionary or Thesaurus as an explanation – “Acquired taste = self- abuse disguised under the name of the pleasures of life. “
I look back on it now and feel pretty silly but I remember in my teens seeing a picture of Jimmy Page and Keith Richard drinking Jack Daniels and so the next time I was in a liquor store I brought a bottle because they were my heroes. I now see billboards of David Beckham covered in tattoos advertising a Single Malt and I cringe at the message he is sending to all the people that idolise him.
This is because we live empty lives, we want to become a living picture that for some reason we feel very attracted to. So joining the club and ceasing to honour you is the easiest attempt to try to be like them. The funny thing is that when you do so, you discovered that you are not alone in this new endeavour, confirming your choice. The fact that you are now part of a heavy crowded club is perfect to cover up the fact that emptiness and the preferred way to deal with it is what really unites all members.
Absolutely Kevin. the responsibility of being a role model has not been realised at all. And why is it not OK for kids to drink or get tattoos – but OK for adults? It doesn’t make sense. Surely something is healthy or not healthy, for all bodies.
I agree Kevin the advertising companies know that young people follow David Beckham and idolise him. Some may call this clever marketing, but to me it is insidious to use his affinity with young people as a way of encouraging them to start drinking whiskey……and even more insidious is that David accepted the part..
Agree with that Alison, how in the world can you choose to advertise inspiring others to drink alcohol? Someone with the fame of David Beckham should be advertising for people to stay healthy by NOT having to drink alcohol.
Listening to what our taste buds tell us seems such a common sense thing to do. It is interesting to note that, in the past, so many of us over-rode what our tastebuds and body told us, acquiring a taste for something as you pointed out Michael. A great blog with a powerful reminder to listen to our inner wisdom
The simplicity of the message to listen to our body is something that is so strong yet still we often overlook it. It’s another example of the opportunity we have to listen to our body rather than constantly choose to override it.
Yes so true, I find the more I listen and take action to what I am hearing my body say, the better I feel and my body constantly lets me know where I am at, so awesome.
There’s so much amazing in what you say Kevin and the comments from others and I can relate to all of this as an ex cigar smoker and whisky drinker and tryer of Guinness because I was going to Dublin but then finding Murphys more palatable because it was less bitter. I recall taking a month off smoking and visiting a work colleague who had kindly arranged a break for me to go outside and have a cigar. I’d already decided I’d not smoke but that was a trigger and of course I had a packet in the car ‘just in case’ and then my body cried out in sickness for the rest of the day. Oh and by the way I love the car analogy.
There is just so many things that we could be shown or taught from a very young age that could save us a lot of misery growing up, like honouring our taste buds and trusting what our bodies are telling us, not to mention self-love and care although a lot of us have just got to try things out of our own accord and learn the hard way anyway. Sometimes the forbidden fruit syndrome is also something we will override our senses for.
It is strange that these things are championed as an acquired taste and that you have gained some kind of sophistication by persevering until you like it. If we look at this with fresh eyes we can see how silly this is, especially as many of these things are ultimately bad for us. As a society we have lost the commonsense idea that our body has a wisdom that can be followed and that the body will always tell you the truth.
I did the same persevering with alcohol in my 20s but my body did not like it at all. It felt toxic to my body back then, and so now to drink it would be for me like drinking poison. Allowing my body to feel the truth of it meant that the decision to never drink again was absolute and very easy to stick to. Even though I had previously convinced myself that I liked drinking, once I made the decision, I never looked back.
Beautiful Kevin, how huge that there is another way and that this way has supported you to make sure huge changes in life – that helped you to feel more real and truly yourself – not those images portrayed by society. I can say the same , I had lived in a bubble of illusion, I had no equipment to get out of this bubble before meeting the family Benhayon. This simply so because with their realness, calmness and true love they had woke me up out of this bubble, i realized that it was not true joy that I was living, therefore I was living like stainless steel.. It is now that I have seen and felt true joy in my life again , in others and also within myself again (made possible by this incredible family) I was able to meet my own and find my own true love again – which is me! So thank you Serge Benhayon, this loving family totally rocks !
Its so interesting. I had lived my entire adult life dependant on alcohol and other stimulants and depressants. When I discovered Universal Medicine I now had a reason to stop and I stopped everything all at once. If only I had seen how important and precious I was instead of needing something outside myself to give me a reason to care.
This seems to be the key to making these choices to not abuse our bodies – to know how important and precious we are.
And to also feel this deeply – yes what a difference it makes in our lives.
I agree Annie and Kate, why wait until we have disease to appreciate the preciousness of our body? We can start now by valuing ourselves and choose to live every moment in self love and the joy this brings.
Its a huge testimony you offer Kate, to the power of connecting with yourself.
Kevin great blog. I too did what you did, but I can safely say I NEVER liked the taste of beer or scotch or coffee but would drink them all in copious amounts. I was very clear about the fact that I was drinking these things for the effect not the taste so would scull them down until I felt that ahhhh. Life is different for me now. I eat and drink to support my body and my connection, and if I slip up boy do I feel it! Like you this would not have been possible if I had not developed love and appreciation for myself and my body.
Beautiful question and well asked: 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?
It is true, why did I constantly override what my body was feeling, and at times still catch myself doing.. I found that in my head ; I have the power to move mountains and create as far as I can, ‘a drive on its own’ but this drive does not come from my body , but actually a push from my mind which totally forgets about the body while choosing. This is the disregard I have lived and still live in some areas of my life – but I am now on my way tracking all these drives to create in disregard of my body- and minimise any abuse I am causing. In this way I am now learning more about what my body truly needs and not my mind. The drive to create seems to ease too, as my body is the marker of truth instead of my head (which I had given a go for so so long).
I remember the first time I drank my father’s wine- it burnt my throat and tasted disgusting. I couldn’t understand why people would want to drink this and pay so much money for it. My body didn’t like it at all. Thankfully I choose to listen to my body and not pursue drinking alcohol to fit in. I now know it is a poison, and is a predisposing factor for cancer.
So well said Kevin, I can relate to so much of what you shared. Always overriding what I felt or my body was telling me, just to ‘fit in’ or keep eating, drinking or doing something in particular that didn’t feel great, just to ‘acquire’ the taste for it. That has since changed, but I can very much still recall how I didn’t want to listen to the wisdom of my body, but allow the head to take over, definitely not so much today though.
In a conversation with an eleven year old recently, they told me about trying an espresso latte for the first time, how they were up for three nights on the caffeine, and how awful their body felt. So when I asked, are you going to try this again, they said yes because coffee was an acquired taste and they just had to get past the first time, then it would start to taste nice and they wouldn’t notice the side-affects anymore. I asked if that was how they wanted to live their life, racy and not feeling their body, they said no. I put forward the suggestion that maybe it was the flavour of coffee that they liked, with all the sugar and milk added. So they tried a straight black coffee – and hated it – so added lots of sugar and milk, making it essentially a coffee flavoured sugary milky drink. This young person then realised what the choices were that they had, and even though they may go on to drink coffee, lots of it, the awareness is there forever because they had that experience.
This article made me giggle slightly uncomfortably at the complete madness of the processes I went through to ‘acquire the taste’ for totally revolting things, just so that I could fit in! Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, dairy rich food – most of which my body gagged at while I persevered and ignored the signs. It was not a pretty trajectory and one that I can only imagine the ending of – although the health stats for a women of my age are out there and I am definitely now bucking the trend. Thank you, Kevin, for the wise and down to earth sharing.
I like your angle Susan… that expression sums it all up. We ‘acquire’ a taste of something when we override our original impulse that we do not like the taste of it.
Yes I like that sentence too and it is so true. Nowadays I notice if I pull a face or my mouth says no – I don’t ingest it anymore.
I love your blog Kevin. It made me ponder what I have acquired a taste for in recent years. Now I savour truth, self-love, connection to myself and intimacy with others. My taste for comfort, distraction and self-loathing have become unsavoury to the taste buds now where once I found them delicious. Boy oh boy how my palette has changed in Serge Benhayon and the Universal Medicine students’ reflection.
I can remember many moments in life where I would have a taste or try something new, only to feel confused as to why many continue. But of course like you Kevin I persisted thinking that I was abnormal for not enjoying them and if I kept going surely I would enjoy them too, why not it seemed everyone else did. We become so easily influenced when we are not listening to our bodies but living from the thoughts in our head.
I could really relate to this line Kevin, ‘as I always felt imprisoned by them’. I can remember how trapped I felt while being a cigarette smoker. It was an endless cycle that kept me in low self-esteem and unworthiness, making it feel incapable of getting myself out.
I agree Kevin, thank God for Serge Benhayon, his family and Universal Medicine. I would also still be doing and consuming things that were never good for me. Reading your blog and looking back it’s mind blowing how many choices I made that over rode what my body was telling me.
The first memory I have from sugar and sweets, white and soft bread, is a very yummy one. Something I instantly liked. Today I can feel that my body doesn’t really like high amounts of carbs. Could it be that I lost my true sense for this kind of food a long time ago? That it is something so often repeated that I don’t have a conscious memory of the first time? I wonder how it is for people who remember their first time of having sugar.
Felix I have more of a memory of craving sugar rather than tasting it – the promise of something great that never satisfies or lasts long enough. In every sense an addiction.
Thank you, Lucinda, you gave me an important hint! It is true that tasting sugar is actually not ‘tasting’ something, but rather feeling a materialized emptiness, which – when absorbed – makes me more empty, hence more craving.
Vicious circle – thank God we are so fortunate to recognise a lot of this through the awesome presentations by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Wanting sugar energetically is being played by the law of attraction. There is an emptiness that I am aligned to, hence I feel attracted by something that is empty, in this case empty food. If I instead of putting sugar (materialized emptiness) in my body which as a logical consequence makes me even more aligned to emptiness, I would observe my sugar craving, read it as a marker for having missed to express myself, I could then stop and start to express to have a true refill!
You raise some great points here Felix, and they helped me realise something else about our relationship with food. I have noticed that sometimes after a hard day’s work or accomplishing some challenging goal I will have a tendency to want to ‘reward’ myself with some kind of food that I don’t normally have, and that can at times be of the sweeter variety. But if I was feeling that what I did was enough and there is nothing more to prove, why would I need to eat something to fill myself up? The answer I feel is that emptiness you mentioned above, where I would go to food to deal with that emotion, but only to feel even more empty afterwards because the food I chose was not supportive of my body in the first place. This also shows how when we are feeling those kinds of emotions, the choices we make from that space are usually not the best for us in the end.
No matter how exciting the idea of the sugary food is, it never lives up to the expectations, and the flat or low feeling afterwards is horrible.
Reading your examples, Kevin, made me realize again how cruel our upbringing is. It encourages me to look deeper in how we are fooled by false role models and our education – and even health system.
Good point, Felix. All the sign posting leads us away from ourselves. To know the way we have to be super steady so that we do not get pulled by the false signs. We need to look for the sign posting from within out, rather than the other way around.
Yes, Matilda, that’s the answer that should fill our school books.
A simple question has helped me feel into what to eat and drink and what not…after the first few seconds of taste in the mouth how does it feel in the rest of the body in the 24-28 hours after that?
And isn’t it awesome how quickly we can tell? I find half the time when I look at some food before I even get to taste it, my body signals me ‘ I am full’ – so I don’t need to try it out anymore…
Indeed Richard the simplicity of your dad’s choice shows a rock solid confidence that cannot but be inspirational – for he was a true rebel.
Where is a world that needs to tamper with the exquisite purity of an apple?
Kevin i love the way you have exposed the farce that an acquired taste is, for me this shouts of so much arrogance that we have encouraged ourselves to override the body in order to look good and fit in. The word acquire speaks volumes for we are actively being asked to buy into the product, not simply consume it, and in this we neglect the most wondrous and sophisticated taste system that lies right here within our mouths.
Yes, Lucinda, arrogance is a good word to describe how we override what our body is telling us and think we can get away with it.
Very aptly named- arrogance – yes it is exactly that!
It is absurd Lucinda, very pompous as well. It is like drinking whisky and having all the different varieties yet when anyone I know has tried it, myself included, the taste is disgusting, my whole body would shudder – yet I would force myself to like it on the odd occasion I had any so I would fit in and look good. Crazy really and yes very arrogant to think we override our bodies and get away with harming them.
Kevin raises an important point, how many people want to stop certain behaviours or habits but feel powerless. Perhaps some convince themselves that they do not want to stop, rather than feel that way. The simple principles of self love and reclaiming the sensitive awareness we were born with are key elements presented at Universal Medicine which do make all the difference to becoming honest and being empowered to make the changes Kevin has shared, which are just fantastic to read about.
So true Simon V. I know I wouldn’t have got there under my own steam. What Universal Medicine presents breaks through the consciousness, ideals and beliefs we live under. It’s a kind of freedom that is presented – a way by which we can live free of the many systems that imprison us and keep us cycling around the ‘same old same old’. When we break free of that we are empowered to make independent choices based not on the status quo but on what we truly need.
It’s AMAZING what we make ourselves persevere with something when we simply know it’s not right for us, and how far we will go to find the exact food or substance that helps us ‘get through life,’ even if it tastes disgusting. I also find it amazing how my mouth can trick me with how good something that is so wrong for my body tastes! There is much to discern when it comes to food.
Even when you watch someone drinking tequila, you can see how awful it is, they grimace and almost lose their breath, having to pretend that this is something good!! Society brings many false pictures of what enjoying life is.
If you would come to earth from another place you would find many behaviours very peculiar and I think many children feel the same when they look out with their eyes to the world around them, like is this really the way I should be living as an adult…?
Yes we have definitely become masters at creating foods that taste delicious – combinations of flavours, textures and aromas that tantalise our senses and leave us craving more. Hey wait, sounds familiar.. could food be a drug?
One of the things I have noticed after ceasing such a constant assault on me poor old taste buds, was how food in its natural state can taste. Take the humble egg for example I used to ply my soft boiled eggs with pepper and salt, seems strange now but I did, but now I have it with nothing on them and man they’ve never tasted so good.
I understand this Kevin! When eating almonds or peas now I really taste the natural sweetness, yet ask me at the time when I was eating sugar and I would have laughed out loud at the thought of these being sweet. Getting back to our real true taste offers so much simplicity!
Yes Samantha, when an almond tastes sweet we really know that our taste buds have returned.
And I find cashews even sweeter. I like being able to taste the true clean flavours of food. My cooking and grocery shopping these days is simple and low fuss.
ha! I relate to that – they taste sweet to me too 🙂
I would have said the same – these foods would have been bland to me back then. I’ve had days when even water can taste sweet – in these moments there is some amazing quality to it, or perhaps I’m more receptive to it, but it’s like magic when this happens, like being super-in touch with something in its purest essence. How can something so ordinary taste so good?
It’s true Kevin. Salt and sugar can rob us of the natural wonderful taste of food. They are so stimulating and strong that we think that nothing tastes good without them. But from experience I know that when I have been without salt or sugar for a while I start to taste food in a whole new way.
…and in a way it is a sacrifice for our bodies to eat food that they don’t need.
The honesty in your words “I’d like to think I would have stopped of my own accord but I can’t really say” are so profound Kevin as it shows me that we only have control on our lifestyle based on the level of love we are able to live in our bodies.
Food has for many a great attachment, that is the only way I can reason why I and so many others I have seen are still eating foods that we know are not supporting our health. I am aware now very clearly when I eat something that is not right for me, but in the past I would use research outcomes and accepted practices to justify eating foods that were considered normal yet I knew were not right for me. No research now is of greater weight in my choices than the feelings my body produces when I eat food.
So true Stephen. This is the difference between listening to outside influences or listening to our bodies and our inner knowing.
It is a blessing when our body speaks to us through ill health as it is a wake up call to start to make changes to how we live otherwise we would not stop the self-abuse.
Exactly even though we may not feel it as a blessing and use other ‘poisons’ to numb ourselves to the symptoms the body is sending us.
“No research now is of greater weight in my choices than the feelings my body produces when I eat food.” 100% Stephen, we have this inbuilt exacting barometer and if we care to listen it will provide clear honest answers.
You sum it up well Stephen: “No research now is of greater weight in my choices than the feelings my body produces when I eat food.”
We are our own scientists and our bodies are living bodies, literally, of evidence. Is this not all the evidenced-based research we need?
There is an enormous consciousness around food that is extremely difficult to break, propped up by numerous ideals and beliefs, some of them propagated by the scientific / food industry community: we must eat 3 meals a day, we need dairy for calcium, bread is the staff of life, we must eat breakfast, a little bit won’t hurt you, everyone else is having some, it’s time for lunch therefore we must eat, red wine and chocolate are good for you and surely the most insidious ‘everything in moderation’. Oh, and what about pressures to eat a family meal? It can be hard breaking through these very ingrained thoughts but not impossible.
Boy did I go down memory lane whilst reading your blog Kevin. I recall absolutely hating the taste of alcohol and cigarettes but the drive to be seen as ‘cool’ was so strong that I doggedly persisted until I managed to over-ride what my body was trying so hard to protect me from. I had always considered myself to be pretty smart so, upon reflection, I can see that this crazy behaviour makes no sense whatsoever.
“Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse.” – and this I’ve found is they key to changing my behaviours and habits. Do I love myself enough to be honest about something that may taste really yummy but that leaves me feeling like I could go into a food coma or feeling sick? Sure, I’ve overriden these messages from my body many, many times, but they just get louder. The choice is mine, always.
Same goes for smoking, I gave it a try because other people were smoking as well but I did not like it at all. But I did smoke for a while, mostly with partying and drinking alcohol. My whole body was saying no, mostly my throat and lungs, but I did not listen to it as I felt it was cool and that’s what you do, you smoke when you start studying.
It just made me think of my first glass wine, which I tried during a holiday in France. I did not like it at all, but then at some point, you ‘learn’ to drink wine. When I think of that, it does not make sense at all. Why do I have to learn to drink wine? It is poison for my body.
Right, like the first response it not enough? BUT I have to also say that I have witnessed that when you do shift to truly healthier food and drink choices that you can first dislike the taste of is because it doesn’t give you the ‘hit’ you want from it. A bit like using food as drugs really…
I think this would be most peoples’ experience of alcohol and cigarettes Mariette.
It’s funny how we can say we like something and keep choosing it like cigarettes and alcohol, just so we can be a part of the in-crowd and not stand out. When I look back on my time doing both, I can feel how I was very insecure and needed to feel liked and part of the gang. I’m so glad I don’t need that anymore.
Yes, Julie, what a relief to no longer be regularly poisoning myself with substances that the body clearly does not like. It is the same with emotions – the body has a natural harmony and does not want to feel tense, hard or contracted.
Me too Julie, so glad it’s well over for a long long time now.
‘I remember thinking it was so sophisticated,’ Whilst I was never a whisky drinker, there were other things to which I acquired a taste, despite my body telling me not to, all because of what others may see. Crazy now when I think about it. Nowadays it is quite the opposite, eating and drinking only what I need, without any attachment to others’ opinions.
Indeed Michelle, when we are void of love we need the acknowledgement and acceptance from outside, opposed to when we are love ourselves already this is not needed anymore as the appreciation for self is already there and will not allow any harm to it for whatever reason.
Thank you Kevin for your sharing. After reading it the other day and revisiting it today something came to me. These ‘acquired tastes’ as you share were originally unpleasant and something we all really make ourselves get use to. This really can also be applied to other things in life that we seem to accept or get an squired taste for eg. The way we allow relationships to be, or the way we move our bodies, the way we speak to and are spoken to, our exercise habits and sleep habits. Anything really that is not supportive and living and allows our body to stay in its natural surrendered way is then something we have learnt to acquire and accept even though it is far from what we deserve.
Johanna this is a great expansion of the blog, and will give me more to examine in terms of what I have forced myself to “like” or endure, instead of choosing to live what is true for me.
I was determined to fit in when I was growing up, in fact I was so set on what was ‘cool’ I forced myself to smoke the occasional cigarette starting as young as at 10 years old!
It made me sick but I desperately wanted to fit in and look the part by the time high school came around.
By the end of grade 6 I could blow perfect smoke rings and was convinced I enjoyed smoking, the heads spins and nausea I pushed through were long forgotten.
These things we say we love, we don’t really love, we just think we do and conveniently forget the struggle it took to enjoy them in the first place.
Kevin’s blog cuts the glamour that can surround it all.
‘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.’ Can you imagine what this realization could save the healthcare, if more people would become aware that so many illnesses and disease are from our choices in what we eat and drink.
I agree Marika. Recently I attended a workshop and the presenter brought up the fact that sometimes we just do not care about the choices we’re making, as in, we go to do something that our body screams for us not to do, yet we do it anyway and ignore the message completely. Recently I’ve been feeling just how many choices I make like this!
Just how much comfort and emotion is in the food I eat, a question I ask more and more, I used to love cheese yet it blocked up my sinuses and I now feel quite nauseous walking past a smelly cheese shop, I trained myself to love whisky yet it burned my throat and made my body overheat making it impossibly to get a good nights sleep. These are two examples of times I overrode my body to try and fit in and eat what has become normal. It just wasn’t worth it and i’m glad I no longer feel the need to fit in and consume these things. Thanks Kev, great topic, great writing.
If we were to list all the foods and drinks we have consumed contrary to the messages our bodies have given us, it would be quite an incredible list. What I find extraordinary is what is it that drives us to such self-harm and to consume things that our bodies feel are toxic or poisonous for it? We would not choose to consume something we knew to be a poison and yet we consume foods that have the same effect on our bodies!
In all my years of drinking alcohol I don’t think I ever considered it a poison, even still when it came down to it, there was no denying it was not doing me any favours. Once willing to be honest about the fact, I was ready to admit to myself that in fact it was poison for my body, and then the choice was clear, how dare I poison myself!
“It probably would have taken an illness or disease to wise me up, but even then, who knows?” The healing and new way of treating our body through a disease is offered, is often not seen for the gift of growth it is.
Yes Monika, the healing to our being that is offered through illness and disease is in general not much appreciated for what it actually is offering us. Until some years ago I also just saw it as something to overcome and/or to conquer but I have never considered the fact that through illness and disease we are given an opportunity to clear our bodies from the harm that our ill way of living has caused to it and from there to allow more love into our bodies instead.
Kevin, I love your honesty: “My resolve and stubbornness were legendary – not to mention thinking I was bulletproof.” And this is the case for so many of us. We will be fine with what we do to ourselves, ignoring the consequences our ill choices have on our health.
“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.” We are supposed to be the most intelligent species on this planet and yet what we choose consciously to override the messages our bodies give us in respond to something that is not supporting it.
I love this Richard, thank you for sharing an example of just how simple it is to make a true choice from your body
Thank you Kevin for this great sharing of how delicately and finely tuned we and our bodies are whenever we choose to pay attention to it. I can relate to what you have shared in many ways. I too can remember when I first tried alcohol, I gagged at the first sip, and remember thinking ‘how am I going to do this?’ as I had already decided to persevere as I wanted more to be part of the ‘cool’ group that was drinking. I also reacted to wheat quiet intensely with heavy bloating, reflux, waking up groggy and generally feeling debilitated after eating it. Yet I knew how much or how little I could eat to not feel too bad as I did not want to ‘miss out’. Now I have chosen to listen more and more to my body and honor what messages it sends me and by taking care of myself in this way and in doing so I feel far more vital and now know that this feeling is what I truly do not want to ‘miss out’ on living.
It is completely crazy when you think about it how hard we work to poison ourselves. I remember as a child I could not stand tea or coffee. I thought I would never get through life not liking either so I forced myself to like tea with milk – I never managed to drink coffee in my life but used to drink lots of tea. Later I managed to get myself to smoke cigarettes even though I almost choked the first time I did and they tasted and smelt foul. Soon a cup of tea and a cigarette went together beautifully together, together with a furry tongue and feeling of staleness – why would I do that to my beautiful body and why didn’t I listen? As you say Kevin: “thank God for Serge Benhayon” and all my inspiring friends who have shown me another way – a joyful way to lovingly living with my body and every-body.
‘It is completely crazy when you think about it how hard we work to poison ourselves.’
Indeed it is Nicola, ridiculous in fact! The level we go to to tarnish and inhibit our delicate vessels (bodies) to not feel the enormity of who we are.
Thank you Kevin for this inspirational blog, so honest and relatable. It’s crazy how much we override what our body is telling us to simply fit in and often at the expense of our health and relationships.
You are a great writer Kevin. As I was reading your blog I remembered vividly the things that I made myself “like” over the years. Wine was a big one. My parents used to get me to taste it as a child. Hated it. “One day” they told me “you will get to love it.” I grew up…still hated it. So I set about making myself like it, to fit in and so forth. By the time I got to my 30’s I could just about drink it without pulling a face of disgust.
Oh boy…
I was also considering the “healthy” things we eat and drink that make our body scream no!!! I recall making myself take herbal supplements that would have made me vomit except for my sheer determination not to. This went on for years. I look back now in sheer amazement at the wise counsel my tongue was giving me that I rejected, thinking I knew better.
Oh you just reminded me of the many concoctions I would drink or take because they would make me ‘better’ that were just horrid. Our bodies are amazing at continually giving us signals. My tongue when I eat certain foods goes red and blotchy to the extent that I can’t talk…. very clear!
Yes, Rachel, these familiar scenarios of the crazy things we have done in the past to fit in, would be humourous if we were not causing untold harm to our bodies.
Oh Doug! This would be hilarious if it were not such an indictment of how careless we are with ourselves.
Our tastebuds are like tiny little warning lights in our car – the problem we have is that it has become socially condoned, even demanded, that we keep driving when every light is flashing its warning signal.
Imagine going to the mechanic after driving our car for 30 or 40 + years with the full panel of lights flickering like crazy for all of that time? What would we say to the mechanic asking us why we had ignored them for so long?
That we got used to them??
The great thing about cars is that they just stop working when they have a problem that we ignore.
Our bodies are so resilient that they keep going – an extraordinary miracle that we exploit…..to eat things.
I love the warning light analogy I never really looked at the taste buds that way but if a warning light comes on in my work van I’m straight to the mechanics without passing go, the van cost me a lot of money. I wonder if people had to pay for heavily for healthcare whether they would look after themselves a little better.
‘Our tastebuds are like tiny little warning lights in our car – the problem we have is that it has become socially condoned, even demanded, that we keep driving when every light is flashing its warning signal.’
Is it our tastebuds that are getting socially condoned or is it a matter of our minds completely overriding these warning signals, to the point where the true sensation of the taste is lost. Like we are so hell bent on numbing ourselves and not wanting to know the truth that we can become conditioned to not feel the sensations of our body until it needs to scream them at us – like in the form of severe illness and disease…?
I love this Kevin.
An” acquired taste ” = to completely override everything you body is telling you very loudly about how what you are doing to it is actually not good for it, healthy or even truly enjoyable. You are just over riding that turing, eye watering feeling in your throat and stomach because you lack the self care to do what you really want to do!
Kevin I love how you say ‘refining and redefining’ – it’s the story of my life! I can easily be hard on myself for continuing certain patterns of comfort when ‘I know better’. But when I hear you say ‘refining and redefining’ I don’t feel any judgment or harshness, it’s very gentle and allowing of where ever you’re at. Really lovely.
Having been encouraged to try beer with lemonade to make it more palatable was one way I was encouraged to join in and be sociable at family gatherings in my teens. I was never convinced alcohol was the way to go and over a period of time I eventually gave it up altogether why drink it if something had to be added to it to make it taste acceptable? I know there are other tastes such as coffee that were never my favourites. With the event of Universal Medicine entering my life I felt more normal not the odd one out!
Kevin, like you many of us think we are “bulletproof” until we get the disease, illness or accident that stops us in our tracks and we also accept the signs such as heartburn as being things we just have to put up with. Why is it that it we often don’t make the connection between what we do to ourselves and what the body is telling us? Could it be that we just don’t want to take responsibility, or that we find it perversely more ‘comfortable’ to maintain the old habits that are so ingrained? Once we accept responsibility we have the power to make changes, as you have done.
‘I was always saying I wanted to stop those things I knew were not good for me, as I always felt imprisoned by them.’ Love the honesty of your sharing Kevin and can relate to feeling imprisoned by my vices, once we make the initial choice to override the messages our body is giving us it starts a momentum that is harder to walk away from. For me having the support of Universal Medicine to look at and heal my hurts and start to love myself opened me up to looking honestly at my former choices and choosing to start listening to my body then created a truer momentum and enabled me to carry on refining my choices and let go of the ones that were abusive.
Awesome Kevin, I know exactly what you mean when I 1st tried alcohol or cigarettes they were disgusting but I made myself like them to fit. Then somehow I seemingly ‘enjoyed’ them. It is amazing how much we can override what we are sensing to then feel the exact opposite of what we felt originally. We know with the 1st distaste what is good or bad for our bodies but then seem to be able to numb and suppress this so much that eventually we hail it as being good for us – like so many have done with wine for instance. The lies and deceit we live with every day is incredible when you look at it this way – ie. how many things do we do that we now believe are good for us when we initially knew they were not, it takes a lot of honesty but is quite shocking to see.
Great blog Kevin, how far have we gone away from our bodies to feel the need of having a subtance that doesn’t taste and feel like we are getting more healthy from it?
It just shows how disconnected from our bodies we were when indulging in all the things that made it feel ill and sluggish and bloated and heavy and and and … so good to not be doing that anymore thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Upon reading this blog I reflected on my own choices to let go of my acquired tastes. In doing so I realised that through this choice, I feel a lot steadier and no longer have little ills from food or drink or phlegm or waking up feeling exhausted or dehydrated. Well done us I say!
Yes indeed, and doesn’t it just feel awesome to not have those niggely ill feelings anymore after eating – feels so good to eat and the body responding in feeling well and nourished.
I second everything you say Kevin. I too have often pondered on ‘acquired’ tastes…. When you break it down a bit to ‘acquire’ something simply means, in this context, to pick up / take on from somewhere else. We are constantly being reminded that our bodies never lie. So does it not make sense that if we do not like something in the first place, that is ok, it is not for us.
Yes that is a great point Jane and Julie. Starting to really honour what my body was telling me through pains, bloating or just sensing a foul taste, has relieved me from a lot of tension that I felt with going against what I was feeling. Feeling this is a great way to persevere in not having these unsupportive or even harmful substances.
An awesome blog Kevin…love the simplicity and honesty you bring to life and our choices. It is bizarre that we take on these behaviours which are against our bodies, and even though we have chosen these behaviours, we somehow feel that that is life, that we are ‘contracted’ to this way of being for life! Where does this belief come from? Is it because that is all we see around us and so we think that must be ‘it’? But how and why do we even consider self-harm is ok?!
Thank God indeed for Serge Benhayon, his family, and students of the Way of the Livingness who all show us there is another way to live…far more enriching, vital, loving, nurturing and joy-full – a life full of beauty and magic!
The very beautiful thing about what you have shared Kevin is that our body was always communicating the truth and this is the same for everyone. Unfortunately we can justify pretty much anything and have the ability to ‘persevere through’ so that in what we are doing, we no longer notice our bodies reaction. Also now thanks to your blog I now know the true meaning of ‘acquired taste’ ‘ – Something I know is not suitable for my body, but I ignore because it’s sociable, in, it meets my needs to fit in, numbs etc.
It is pretty amazing when you actually stop and consider just how unwavering our bodies are in ‘communicating the truth’ regardless of how we abuse it. We can be so quick to override the signals and guidance offered as to what will support us living with vitality. Yet when we override what is being communicated we undermine the purpose of our bodies, to enhouse us, our being so that we can live and move with the vitality that we all deserve to live with.
Bravo Kevin – not only for choosing to love yourself but also sharing with us your understanding of why we can get caught up with these habits in the first place. No one has a puff of a cigarette and enjoys it! But we train ourselves to do it, to look cool and to like it for the sake of fitting in. How mad is that?! I rememeber coughing and feeling my mouth shrivel up when smoking my dads cigarettes at a young age, but I so wanted to be edgy and not feel the hurts I was carrying of not being met for the bright light I am. Smoking cured the emptiness only for a short while, or maybe the physical pain and sensation of smoking was just distracting me from the emptiness I felt. Either way, choosing love means we no longer have to fill up with things from the outside world, we are all already full from what we are on the inside… Love.
‘I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.’ I used to experience this often to and occasionally would eat and drink that I missed, almost instantly would feel and know what had truly drawn me back to that point, never actually being the test but in reality the change the food would bring over my body.
I have experienced something similar where my mind is telling me how amazing something would taste, feeling like I really miss it and the taste is swirling in my head. I get enticed by the taste my thoughts are conjuring up and then I reach for the food, eat it with satisfaction in expectance only to feel like I have just been fooled. I then realised my thoughts was what was driving me to eat and the thought of it tastes so much better than what it is in reality. By being aware of how I can fool myself into possibly making unloving food choices especially when I am feeling disconnected helps me take a moment to feel, to be honest, to discern what my next choice will be. Is it loving or not and remembering to ask myself, am I making a choice from my head or my heart?
It is the inspiration that we feel by connecting to something that is innately divine that gives us the fuel to make such everlasting changes in our life. And this is why so many people end up experiencing such profound and everlasting changes to the way they live that end up being beneficial to their health. But the esoteric way is not about living a better life, or a healthier life, and indeed why the true esoteric student sees illness and disease as not always something to be avoided, but sometimes something rather necessary in order to assist in addressing the ill momentums of life that one has been caught in. To be esoteric is to be religious. and to know first and foremost that there is something to connect to that pulls at us to realise the truth of who we are. Everything else is but a side effect of that choice to connect and be inspired by such.
Great Adam, you have put it into perspective here, that a true change does not come from achieving a ‘better life’ but from having a purpose to live in such a way that we connect to our divinity and the love within and live our life with that quality so that as a byproduct we may find our quality of life improves.
Brilliantly expressed Adam, full of wisdom and so, so true.
Yes fully agree, awesome expression Adam – thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us.
True, Adam: “To be esoteric is to be religious, and to know first and foremost that there is something to connect to that pulls at us to realize the truth of who we are. Everything else is but a side effect of that choice to connect and be inspired by such.” It all starts with the choice to connect back to our divine origins.
Kevin it feels like you changed your direction before you hit a mid life crisis, you chose to look at all the ill choices before they confronted you… Crisis averted well done for choosing self love.
Yes Merrilee, I can see your point. Kevin if you had carried on the way you had been going a crisis point would have been reached. When we begin these behaviours and “acquire” a taste for them when young, we don’t stop and think about our bodies as being destructible often until too late. But you changed the tide Kevin, which is a huge inspiration for everyone.
Thanks for the excellent blog Kevin. Somewhere when we are growing up we start to believe that there isn’t a choice, that there are things that we have to do and it is just because everyone else is doing them. I remember when I decided NOT to drink alcohol, I felt so empowered and so great about it because I knew how it made me feel. Why do people hold back from making choices which they know will truly support them and look after their body? Because to do that would mean feeling that they have walked away from love.
There are a myriad of excuses one can make to justify how they are treating their bodies. I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman I met for the first time today about listening to our bodies and making choices from there. He shared that his body needs beer for the malt and sugar so his body can use it for fuel to keep going and do all the activities he likes to do. When I shared that I don’t drink alcohol and don’t need the sugar to keep me going, he said ‘You’re missing out on all the joys of life’. It was a very honest opinion from him but it was also an opportunity for me to appreciate, in fact, all the things I am really ‘missing’ out on: hangovers, bloating, false relationships, ups and downs, mood swings, false sense of confidence and missing myself. I find there is more joy in my life and body now than all the socalled treats I would make myself ‘like’ to fit in.
Great sharing Aimee, of the lifestyle bubble in men, defending it at all costs.
Love the aspect you draw about sensitivity in the taste buds Kev, and how overriding this can lead to those ‘acquired tastes’ based on ideals held in regards how to look or be in life. Refreshing and honest post. And agree, that what is eaten, and the accepted levels abuse upon the otherwise naturally harmonious body is definitely a self-worth issue… because why spoil something that’s worth it, or truly valued?
Yes Zofia, these behaviours of not honoring our body clearly point to a lack of self-worth issue. I would say this is one of the huge world plagues at moment next to its brother exhaustion that also adds to not feeling great which we then want to mask with eating and drinking substances that take us away from feeling instead of caring deeply for our bodies. That last one would be far more effective to do than the first.
Great point Zofia. I feel that it is important to consider that the unloving ways we treat our bodies is abuse, as are bodies are as you say naturally harmonious in every way. As then we are able to be honest with what it is that allows us to be this way with ourselves and expose the levels of lack of self-love that we are choosing to live with. Offered to us then is an opportunity to develop our love for ourselves and build a deeper relationship with our bodies and so make choices that then support us to live with more love and vitality.
Thank you Jane, I love what you say here “And I love not drinking alcohol – it was a relief to my body to stop trying to force something that just didn’t feel right to me.” as I hadn’t really taken the time before to feel how yes my body does like not having alcohol forced on it. And in this listening it has then let me know of other drinks or foods it does not like.
“Whiskey for instance – I used to believe I loved the taste and would drink it straight like a ‘real man’. ” – this couldn’t be further from the truth of what I felt as a little girl and then as a woman around men drinking whiskey. The smell of it repulsed me and the feeling of the men when they drank it made me feel unsafe, and yet movies and advertising show men as being popular with women, tough, smooth, attractive when they drank whiskey. These images could not be further from the truth of what I have felt, and clearly men themselves have to override their lovely tender nature to toughen up to drink it and be a ‘real man’.
“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?” This is a good question Kevin and one that if parents paid attention to, when their small children are telling them they don’t with certain foods, then they may not have so many food battles. It is not only our own overriding we do but also there can be times as a young child we are expected to like certain foods.
It’s interesting how alcoholic drinks, cigar and cigarette smoking and certain foods are not enjoyed when we first have them. They are bitter, sharp, burn our throats, make us feel sick, cause heartburn, etc and yet we still persevere with them…many of us do this. But why? Is it because we see images in media about what is cool, sophisticated, edgy, rebellious or however else we want to be seen? And even though we may initially hate the taste or reaction from our body, we get a desired effect and that is to not feel something, to numb a certain unwanted feeling, and we learn to override the reaction from our body for short term relief or ‘feel good’ moments.
Exactly Sandra, what we put our bodies through for the sake of a fleeting thrill on the tongue, is one very sick game we play.
I agree Kevin, heartfelt thanks to Serge Benhayon, the Benhayon family, Universal Medicine practitioners and the Student Body, as they have supported so many people by the way that they are and the way that they live, to know that there IS another way. We don’t have to over-ride and dismiss what we feel or like to fit in.
Absolutely agree Shevon. What Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine has presented throughout the years has transformed a great many lives. By presenting what is consistently lived Serge Benhayon has inspired many to discover for themselves that when we live in connection to our bodies we live in connection to what is true and as such develop our way of living in harmony with our truth through which many are continuing to live today with far more vitality, well-being, love and joy in their lives.
Thanks for sharing Richard that is a very touching story, I find people that are able to listen to their bodies with such authority like that are very inspiring.
Kevin Hardy, I know we have never met but I have a real fondness for you and your writing style, you are the perfect authority on this subject. What I love is that you are coming from a real understanding of what it is like to push through to fit in even if something is actually gross. What you highlight is the most disgusting things get glorify the most!
When a child tastes coffee or alcohol they generally don’t like it but we put that down to having to grow into these ‘acquired tastes’, which is such BS.
How ironic too Sarah that those tastes are seen to be ‘grown up and mature’. Kevin’s blog really highlights for me how we can very easily override a lot of our sensitivities. The kids have it. Knowing their bodies and listening to their bodies, but so can we if we choose to regain our sensitivities.
Well said Sarah – I agree. Kevin is the ‘perfect authority on this subject’. Your great point also highlights how much pressure there is to be dishonest with ourselves and so with others as we don’t want to stand out and say ‘that tastes disgusting’ when we actually feel this is so. So then being dishonest and lying becomes glorified. I would guess mostly all of us have been in this situation, and have felt this pressure to lie to fit in, and justifying it with taunting phrases such as ‘acquired tastes’.
Hi Kevin, what you share here is so true. Reflecting on your words I can see how I have done the same in the past, and still the potential is perhaps there to do so, in less obvious ways.
Thank you for your sharing Kevin, what you describe many can relate to, we persevere to get used to a taste of food or drink, always for a purpose that is not true but taken upon us from what we see around us.
Kevin this is fantastic to read and see your shining face so clear and young looking. Having also found the acquired tastes path in my younger years it fascinates me that like food, alcohol and drugs we also acquire and make emotions our go to things of choice in the same way we use those more obvious tastes. Anger, rage, fury, frustration, sadness already available to choose and no money need be spent.
So true Lee and such a great point. Emotions are much more subtle as we don’t necessarily see them, but we can certainly feel them.
Cigarettes, Cigars, Port, Marijuana, Blue Cheese, Whiskey, tequila, camembert – all this things I acquired a taste for…
All of them just a lie to myself.
Great point Lee, that things we acquire a taste for are not just food and drinks. I’ve heard it said that someone has acquired a taste for gambling as an example. It’s important to go back to the first time we ‘try’ something and often, we’ll see it didn’t sit well with us but we override our feelings until it becomes an acquired taste. Why do we do this? Because the food, emotion or activity is feeding us something from the outside that may temporarily make us feel good in some way, and so we go back for more.
Great point Lee! Our got-to fillers on the ready for anytime we make the choice in an instant not to be honest with what we’re feeling, our handy spoonful of poison kept at arms reach fit for any occasion.
CORRECTION: ‘go-to’ fillers
I loved this sentence as well Jane about our very sensitive taste buds.
Richard when you share it like this it certainly is very simple.
I love this Kevin. Every example you share in relation to your taste buds made me smile as I could relate to having similar experiences. Sometimes I would try something and not be able to take it up, for example smoking, but other things like alcohol I persevered with until I could drink with the best of them. Having given up alcohol I can say I don’t miss it at all.
So true and what I find is, that when I truly connected to myself and the love that I am within, I actually didn’t have to ‘give up’ anything at all, the body just let me know it didn’t want it any more by me feeling no desire at all to ever touch the abusing food or drink or whatever it was, again. It was an instant clearing, so awesome. And if I at later times was to smell some of these foods or drinks it was an immediate put-off, and such a clear message – this is done!
It highlights somewhat that as human beings we are more than just a body or even a mind, perhaps there is a being who is seeking experiences quite often at the expense of the body it inhabits.
Dear Kevin, it is so delightful to read about your journey back to yourself again, and how you made space for more and more awareness into your body and your life. Your determination and growing love for yourself is nothing short of amazing. You, your journey, your blog are greatly inspirational!
Thank you Kevin, it is such an honest account of how we develop habits that are self-destructive and totally against what our body communicates to us. You highlight that we repetitively over-ride what we are feeling to satisfy another desire to belong, to be polite and be accepted.
To override what is true is to acquire a taste for all that is not.
Perfectly said, short sharp and to the point, awesome Liane.
Put so succinctly Liane. Awesome,
An acquired taste is really just a lie you have chosen willingly to believe.
Powerful comment Liane, it’s an awesome reminder that we have to acquire anything that is not true, it doesn’t come naturally and a lot of effort is involved.
This had made me ask the question Kevin of what is it that I could still be ingesting (I no longer drink coffee, alcohol, have dairy or gluten) that I don’t truly like but think I should or am eating because it’s supposed to be good for me. It’s made me realise how important it is to really connect with the body in order to feel what’s right for it. As to your question “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?” One of the main reasons for me was to numb and dull all the feelings that I didn’t know how to deal with. Upon listening to presentations by Serge Benhayon and being prepared to take self responsibility I have no desire for any of the food or beverages that I was so reliant upon – no willpower required.
It’s not something we usually consider, but it is true that it can be described as ‘self-abuse’ whenever we take or consume anything that harms us. When I was drinking alcohol I never ever thought of this as self-abuse, but there is really no other way to describe it.
Kevin I love how you express, so down to earth. I can so relate to everything you said. I too remember telling friends I preferred whisky straight in a good glass and a few ice cubes!! When looking back I can see it was complete lies just to impress. My body told the truth with the burning sensation it gave me in my throat and stomach and of course the dreadful feeling the next day.
I was a stout drinker and used to think that it was much better for me because of it’s iron content (which is actually not true). I would refer to as a “steak and eggs in every glass”. I was very similar to you Samantha in that drinking this was about me fitting in and being seen as “one of the boys”. My body certainly did not thank me the following day.
Thanks Kevin. I remember adding chocolate to my coffee so that I could drink it (mocha), soda water to the whisky and blackcurrant to the beer. I too was determined to be accepted and doing what everyone else seemed to love doing. Such a lot of effort to not be myself, and fit in instead. When we look a bit closely at why we do these things and what we and our bodies have to experience in the process, then the picture changes, irriversibly. My relationship with food is changing and i’m now rediscovering what foods I actually enjoy, rather than the ones that make me look like I am fitting in.
Is it not crazy that when we look back this is what seems normal. That your parents have followed in their parents foot steps as that is all that they have known. This cycle of generations keeps taking us further and further away from how we really are. To be constantly looking out for validation and acceptance and not feeling that you are everything that you ever need to be is the deepest hurt of all.
I love the humility and honesty of this blog. Thank you for sharing your story Kevin.
When we are in a shop trying on a jacket if it doesn’t feel right and doesn’t fit well we are happy to leave it in the shop but when it comes to food we have learnt to make it work even though at times our body is crying out for us to stop. It doesn’t make sense really, we are willing to refuse something that doesn’t look or feel right on our body yet more than willing to put something into our body that we know is harming us.
“It is as if in overriding our senses we create a form of dependency, we open up a channel that was previously closed and once opened this channel keeps calling us.” This is a huge revelation as it shows us how once we make a decision that says give me whatever there is to take the edge off of life, we are hooked and sold out until we claim ourselves back.
Thank you Kevin, I love how you describe how you acquired your taste. It shows how much we have bought into the belief that we aren’t anybody until we do things and fill us up with knowledge and experience not understanding that we are already equipped for life with the body that we enhouse.
“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?” I love this sentence, it is a great question to ask. We marvel at the fine instrument that our body is but we do not at all honour and treat it accordingly. In fact we misuse it so much that it can’t keep up as we constantly go against its harmonious flow.
Kevin, love you blog! It absolutely cuts with this belief of how we have to be and what we all have to do to “live a good life”. When I decided to stop consuming alcohol, smoking cigarettes, taking drugs and eating all kind of sugary and gluten and dairy loaded food I initially felt that I was taken all the good things in life away from me. The feedback I got from my social environment was also all about that I was taking away the fun of life. Even a doctor once said to me, “but with this restricted diet where is the fun of life”!!! Today I can only say that that what unfolds when peeling all those layers of abuse away and truly connecting to our essence a feeling of true vitality, love, joy and absolute contentment is there waiting for everybody that is in no way comparable to the supposed “pleasure” we get out of the substance abuse we call fun.
Wow Kevin it was a great joy to read your truthful blog! Your honesty is for me very inspirational and my feeling is your words are an inspiration for so many others as well. You exposed very lightly e.g. the ‘connoisseur’-mentality or the trying to fit in, be cool or be sophisticated mentality most of us are fallen for – it is really time to break this consciousness as you so beautifully did.
Kevin this is great, I too used to say to myself many things were an “Acquired Taste”, often when I felt I didn’t like them but wanted to continue for some reason to have them. Yet why is that? Why go against what my body is telling me at that time? Alcohol is a great example – I would get so sick but my desire to “have fun” outweighed how I felt drinking it. Furthermore when I bought in the ideal about the sophistication of wine. Well that was a whole other matter.
‘Why go against what my body is telling me at that time?’ Exactly – yet we all do it a lot of the time – overriding what we feel or what our body is telling us. The taste buds are like the warning lights and don’t shy away from eagerly responding to whatever substance we try to get past them. They are like the body’s body guards yet we can push past them and ignore what they’ve said. How does the rest of our body react when those substances are ingested if the taste buds kicked up a stink about it?!
Yes David, a ‘shandy’ comes to mind, the perfect fix to the at first rotten taste of beer, sweeten it up to make it palatable! Under a closer look, sugar has stepped in on most, if not every occasion to pass the otherwise un-passable.
There are all those other things that taste absolutely wonderful, but are down right poison as well. My six year old came home from school the other day after eating some birthday cake some kid had brought into school and Oh my God she was racing, she was still very lively at 8pm. It was exactly like she had taken drugs and unfortunately she had loved the taste. It is a thing they seem to do at her school on birthdays is send their kids in with sweets and cake for their classmates. How I wish they wouldn’t as we don’t want to ban her from eating them and want her to feel and make her own choices as if she is anything like me she would surely rebel which is half the fun of doing something you are not supposed to.
Kevin it is like we are setting our children up at school to acquire a taste for drinking, drugs and partying when they get older. At schools they give out soft drinks, cakes and lollies for doing well ….. I ask my daughter ‘ is that a treat or a punishment?’ Of course I am being playful however it’s true. They get wired and think that that is the way to celebrate something.
…And of course banning them doesn’t work.
Great blog Kevin and gorgeous photo of you, radiating every bit of the healthy and loving choices you now make. I could relate to so much of what you’ve shared, except the smoking and beer… I could never acquire that taste… thank goodness now! But I remember starting my first full-time job after year 12 and forcing myself to drink my first coffee. It tasted awful!! But I persevered and found a way to slowly ‘acquire the taste’ by adding heaps of sugar and powdered milk. I wanted to look mature and be like all the other office staff. I can see now how trying to fit in dulls down our senses and prevents others from seeing someone that is true and living another way.
I had a similar experience as well Gill, when many years ago after having stopped drinking alcohol for a few years already, I had a smell of champagne and all I could smell was acidic sourness, so gross now.
Most, if not all of these vices are used by men to give off the image that success has been achieved or that they are more of a man than the next. It is very belittling and comes with much arrogance, but it is what is sold to boys and men as the way to compete in this world. It is something I have felt in the past that left me questioning my own achievements and non-achievements and that I needed to do more to prove my self worth. Then I was introduced to self love, nurturing and care of me that completely changed my feelings and understanding of life as a man and helped me see the game that is being played.
To persevere until we acquire a taste of something – how strange is that behaviour. And so we do well to look deeply beyond the immediate ‘reason’ to what makes us want to do something we so abhor when trying it out for the first few times…
Ok let’s have fun with this… Have you ever heard of anyone having to acquire the taste of a cucumber? I haven’t… So it seems like pretty much anything that you have to acquire a taste for is that which we know is not good for us.
Love what you have written here Kevin, why do we preserver to put things into our body that we do know are harming us all for the sake of keeping up appearances and fitting in with the in crowd, it can never be worth it when we see all the illnesses a diseases that we have today
Kevin, thank you – you have packed a lot into your blog for us all to reflect on. How much and how often are we overriding what our body needs to function optimally? In my own case the support from Universal Medicine has been extremely important in considering not just how certain food and lifestyle choices might be affecting my body but also the flow on impact into other areas of my life.
Thanks Kevin for writing about the social pressures we can continue to struggle with by over riding what our bodies are feeling. Feeling and knowing that the choices we are making don’t feel right but the pressure to conform winning each time in fear of not fitting in or wanting to feel “normal”,
I had never truly felt the meaning of ‘an acquired taste’ before reading this blog even though through experience I understand clearly the processes we go through. It seems strange that I do not allow myself the awareness to link the two together until beautifully exposed in this way.
For me too Michael, so interesting and revealing that we can use a word like ‘acquired’ almost as if the nonsensical is then made perfectly clear, oh how great we are at fooling ourselves, or so we think.
It’s inspiring to read about a man who used to do so called ‘manly’ things who realised that actually that was all a load of rubbish.
Your choices for how you live today are waaaay cooler than all those past choices. You can stand up now and appreciate yourself without the worry of not fitting in. How awesome is that?!
You raise is a great point Elodie, the exhaustion and angst that we feel when ‘trying to fit in’ can be very damaging in itself, add in the designer cocaine and french champagne and it’s a recipe for disaster!
No judgment as I have definitely been there done that! I can speak from experience though when I say that I am cooler and more of a woman now that life of trying to be something is behind me.
Nail on the head Kevin! Acquiring taste! I have done the exact same thing with certain things, forcing myself to fit within a particular box, all so I could be accepted. I remember training myself to drink beer because it was cheap and also cool. This took some perseverance and eventually I convinced myself I enjoyed. Biggest lie ever!
“Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse.” This is key. Once we start building that love for ourselves and feeling the yumminess inside, the thought of ruining that with a glass of wine or cigarette becomes so far from our minds.
So true Richard. I had a neighbour who was the same as your father. Just simply abhorred the taste and it was not big deal. It is a big deal in that most of us do or have done exactly what Kevin has described here and followed the mob! When we think about how insidious these rituals and rights of passage are – there is not true examination and connection with the body to keep choosing to harm ourselves! Really scary.
Certain things like drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, if I am honest didn’t take much getting used to, they both seemed to be very familiar and I took to them like a duck to water as though they were a constant in many previous lives. Thanks again to Universal Medicine as these cycles continue to be broken.
You raise an interesting point here Kevin, we can have familiar acquired tastes, almost like a memory from another life. So even though it’s not natural to drink and smoke for instance, you can trick yourself into thinking that it is and that you love it.
Great to read this blog Kevin. Many would not accept that we acquire tastes to fit in. Drinking and smoking are social lubricants that we become addicted to not only because of the chemical effects, but because of the social side as well. I have often pondered about how I said and thought I enjoyed smoking and drinking and ‘thought’ I did. Truthfully it was awful. I so related to your sharing Kevin and appreciate that my experience has been shared through yours. Thank you!
That is superb that your father stuck to his guns over not drinking alcohol, I wish I never indulged to the level I did, but with me the need to numb myself was far greater than any sickness or not liking the taste.
Thank you Kevin for a great blog, I can relate to drinking red wine some years ago, which did not sit well with my stomach, but like you, I preserved with it, so as to fit in. It has taken a few years of gentle living for my tummy to heal after so much abuse.
Thank you too Kevin for resounding the fact. It is astounding how well we may know what we are choosing is not serving us, and repeat over and over with more and more dire consequences until we entertain choosing differently. No matter how long we may choose to take, the fact still remains Truth forever stands.
When we do not live the fullness of the love that we are, we allow ourselves to be owned by all that is not of this love. In this imprisoned state we think that we are free to make certain choices, yet these choices, void of love, can only offer us more of what is not love. This is how we become trapped in a momentum of loveless choices and incarcerated in a way of living that is not true to our essence. Kevin, I love how you have been able to step back and view the cycle you were caught it and make the choice to arrest the ill momentum so that love could be restored in your body and being. Living counter to the love we are is not something we are ‘contracted to for life’ but rather a result of a series of loveless choices we make but do not take responsibility for. Thus, we do not need another to save us from the pit that we have dug, we save ourselves by realising that we stand in the pit of our own making and through love we excavate ourselves.
What so many of us experience in our food choices is a level of wellness that is not representative of how we could optimally feel. So we may say we feel great but there is a much deeper level of wellbeing that would change completely what we accept as a great feeling in our body. I am learning more and more that the marker of what feeling great is shifts over time as i commit more and more to eating foods that support my health and take me beyond just feeling pretty good to actually feeling abundantly well, light, and highly energised. It is for each of us to discern what these food are that allow this level of health to unfold, but I reckon your blog Kev gives a pretty clear guide of where we could all start.
It’s a great point, defining what ‘great’ actually means in our bodies is important and in my experience and is forever changing and developing.
Agree Stephen, is not about being prescriptive or copycat about food stuffs and what works for one, works for all, because of the uniqueness and sensitivity of each body taking into account various lifestyle choices, … though what is important is having a level of honesty about food stuffs and working with the body in its communication. Because it’s the dishonesty that leads to a level of abuse of the body like eating so much to create bloating, being hungover, eating rich foods that create heaviness or tiredness…and when this is realised, then to drop certain foods is an act of self-love. The more honesty, the more capacity there is to love.
This is a ‘great’ point Stephen. As one gets clearer in understanding, appreciating and choosing “beyond just feeling pretty good” so there is a constant refining and deepening of awareness. I find Kev’s blog is a great reminder of both where I have come from and also to keep refining.
Reading this blog is making me think of what tastes I acquired through my life, and the first thing that comes to my mind is my taste in music. It was all based on what would make me cool and fit in. And opposite to this I denied liking some music because it wasn’t cool. And I can totally relate the cigarette thing. Oh how I tried to be a smoker and succeeded to a certain extend but my body kept kicking up a fuss so I could never be serious about it. Isn’t it funny how we push ourselves to do things, and how all that changes in its head as we really listen to what we want?
Kevin this is brilliant, so simply yet powerfully explained. Acquiring a taste to fit in at the expense of the truth.
Truth – standing in ones power and loving it.
Fitting in – twisting and shaping ourselves into something that makes us lesser than who we are, hmmm interesting choice. But as you say Kevin till we recognize our own lack of self love and self-worth fitting in at the expense of our truth is something that is difficult to change.
A very good point you make here Kevin about a lot of our tastes we have to acquire. I remember trying several things on your list and feeling they were disgusting at the time, but I persisted until I could drink or consume them because I thought it was the done thing or I had an investment in the affect that it had on my body at the time, such as alcohol (I loved that I was able to numb out with it). It is so silly to think of the force that I applied to these situations rather than listening to the initial reactions that my body had as I put these substances into my body. By now choosing daily a loving connection with my body what I put into my body comes not from a place based on ideals and beliefs but from the wisdom of what my body tells me is supportive or not.
Gorgeous Donna. It seems rediculous after reading this blog that we override our tastebuds. What other animal would do this? I can’t think of any….
I loved that last paragraph! Indeed thank God for the amazing Benhayons and practitioners and fellow students as we continually inspire each other to be more of who we truly are, and more.
I agree Eleanor, I’m not sure where I would be in my life if not for the Benhayon’s.
Wonderfully honest blog Kevin – about something we all know to our own very personal degree. “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.” This is a classic line that just simply and clearly lets us know we are actually the ones that make the changes to our lives, and need not believe the reality we’ve made, to be a forever thing.
Yes, we use food and other substances seemingly to help us cope with life, when in actual fact these substances can be what is causing the problems in the first place and certainly causing a lot of harm to our bodies. We can turn things around significantly when we take responsibility for what we put in our body and start listening to what it truly needs.
So true Rosanna, to change the reality we have created requires some humbling, to admit that what we have chosen is actually loveless and against the bodies natural order and harmony.
With regard to deeply listening to our bodes when it comes to food, when I went to Weight Watchers, we were given choices but had everything linked to points – in other words, someone had worked out what was good for us and what we should avioid eating because it was loaded with calories. There were always alternative WeightWatchers foods like cakes but these were so full of chemicals according to the ingredients list, it put me off, so I didn’t bother. Eventually I gave up gluten because someone suggested it, and the effects were immediate – less bloated, lost weight, felt lighter in many ways. Same with dairy – inspired by friends who had given it up, I tried substitutes with soya but in the end gave up anything dairy-ish because I realised they simply made my nose sniffy, in other words, created mucus. That refinement left me a clearer body and now I can feel more the effects of other foods. I’m working on letting go of sugar now, mainly because it masks the tiredness I feel and stops me going to be early enough to get a good night’s sleep. That’s not refined sugar, I gave that up ages ago, it’s sugar in fruit. I was eating a lot of it, and it was numbing me, dulling my senses. It tastes lovely but its sheer in-dull-gence.
Food and eating is a real refinement and when it’s based on what our bodies are saying, rather than what someone else is telling us, it’s always true for our body.
I am constantly amazed at what a big impact food can have on my mood and energy levels not just the physical symptons and i shouldn’t be because it makes so much sense, but it is held as knowledge and not lived.
I agree Nicole, ‘I am constantly amazed at what a big impact food can have on my mood and energy levels not just the physical symptoms’, I can feel how if I overeat I become drowsy, if I eat certain foods i get a headache, the effects are very clear.
Me too Nicole, food has so much impact on our bodies and being. I can feel how much I still underestimate this, or dismiss this when I shouldn’t.
Great point Nicole. The more we are open to consider and explore how food is medicine the wiser we will be with the choices we then make.
Susan the change in Kevin is profound, I have known him for 10 years, he is certainly living a million miles away from his old lifestyle. Awesome choices Kevin, you are an absolute inspiration to all those ‘bloky’ blokes especially and of course humanity at large
I love this Mary-Louise and Kevin – “you are an absolute inspiration to all those ‘bloky’ blokes’ … so aptly describes it. And how inspiring your account of your journey is Kevin, awesome all of it.
Yes it is very interesting isn’t Kevin when we think we are loving what we eat, drink or do, only to find when we stop what ever it is, that our bodies were not agreeing with it all along and we fell so, so relieved when the abuse stops and we feel so, so much healthier. .
Absolutely Mary Louise, it has been a massive relief for me to stop my fancy lifestyle abusive habits and finally live with the vitality to focus on the true purpose of life. It is utterly irresponsible to live altering, numbing and debilitating ourselves constantly as we reduce ourselves to such a limited version of ourselves, rattled by exhaustion and while being busy, not truly contributing to any evolutionary change.
I couldn’t agree more, I used to spend £10 on over the counter heart burn pills for chronic heartburn which virtually disappeared once removing gluten and dairy from my diet and then went altogether when I cut out alcohol as well. Now I put up with that awful dis-order for years totally trying to blame it on spicy food and tone deaf to what my body was screaming at me to stop.
Love this Mary Louise, very simple and I agree. I can relate to many things I ate that I used to think I loved, but in stopping I can feel so much more the benefit on my body.
Why do we have to acquire a taste? Does this mean it isn’t natural to begin with? Not necessarily however if many instances it gives a good indicator to what is supportive for us to consume.
An example could be with alcohol many people don’t like the taste first go but begin to warm up to it, even if you don’t warm up to the taste it doesn’t matter and you can get a soft drink version alcohol beverage anyway.
Another side example is if we have to take anti-histamines to consume a certain food, it would be wise to assess whether it is right for us to consume in the first place.
Very true Luke! To cope with acquired tastes, we cover them with something more palatable. If a food or beverage is not agreeing then why dress it up with an alternative? I stopped having dairy years ago, and found that any form of creaminess alternatives like soya milk, dairy-free alternatives like chocolate/sorbets etc. have the same effect on my body, that of comforting myself from perhaps a bad or stressful day at work. Far better to deal with why there’s a bad or stressful day than to cover it up to make the day, again, more palatable. There is always an underlying root to cause certain ‘habits’ , and so too the choice whether to be honest about this, and what it is, or not. So food consumption is related directly to the relationship we’re having with ourselves – is it honest, or not so?
Yes we must never brush off any food consumption as merely that we like the taste. The reason why we eat is so much more feeling based then we currently give it credit for.
It is amazing how we can override and persist on doing something even though our first initial response is clearly saying a loud ‘No’ to it. All in the name of fitting in and wanting to be accepted. It just goes to show how incredibly powerful self care and self love is, in order to recognise that its about self-acceptance that is what is missing, and not rejecting this in exchange of wanting to be accepted or to fit in.
I also drove a motorcycle in the past Kevin, and what I still remember from when I took my first driving lessons and had to speed up on the motorway was that in that I was in fear of being blown of my bike because of the strong headwind that is produced because of the speed of driving. I had to harden myself and my body to keep myself sitting on that motorcycle to witstand the heavy wind force. Because I had identified myself with a lifestyle that included driving a motorcycle I overcame my fears and ignored myself feeling vulnerable in this for me hard and hazardous environment.
What a great example Nico of what we have to do in order to not feel how something is affecting us. We must be able to harden, numb or stimulate our bodies in order to dull our awareness of what we are feeling.
Amazing Nico. And how many other men, and women would have felt the same? Some maybe not, as they may have already begun other dangerous sports or exhilarating activities to harden their bodies and so would not have felt the impact as you did the first time you rode your motorbike.
Great example Nico of how the choices we make to identify with something outside of ourselves requires us to push the body beyond its natural equilibrium. I recently put on a pair of ski boots and as I walked across an icy path felt my body begin to harden and felt a sense of doom, the potential for danger I was about to open myself up to.
What I love about what you share Kevin is that we always have a choice. We always have the choice to take responsibility for how we feel in all situations and that is a pretty cool choice for all. When we listen to what our bodies share we have the opportunity to listen and make our next move from there.
Yet the learning we come back to by our own choice to love and learning to accept the unloving choices we have made is one of the most precious gifts, for the truth is we are not our unwise choices, rather quite the contrary, and by appreciating our every choice made, this opens deeper and deeper into the most amazing love, the love that we are seeking to find all of our lives, but we already are from birth.
Oh I know that one well with whiskey too Kevin, as also many horrible things which I have devotedly and unwisely chosen to take such as cigarettes and even ayahuasca. My body has never lied to me about these things, it rejects it right away by showing me how uncomfortable it feels, but there is an insidious hold that controls and convinces me those things are good, how absolutely ridiculous and harming. We live on earth with this body and there is a battle on-going most of our lives between how our bodies feel and what we are allowed to think. This tension although I did not know how to express deeper then, has been felt most of my life.
If we can have absolute stubbornness and resolve in what harms us, imagine the same stubbornness and resolved we can hold in living what is true. Powerful.
Very powerful indeed Adele – boy – life will be just awesome!!
Delicious Kevin! I too can say a big thank you to Serge Benhayon for all the wisdom he has shared that has given me the understanding to know why I chose to override the gorgeous conversation my body was having with me for years before I chose to actual pay it some attention. I worked hard to enjoy whiskey too! crazy when I can’t even handle lemon lime bitters without feeling light headed!
Lucy this made me laugh as it highlights just how far we push ourselves to fit in etc. It’s really crazy what we ignore and I thank Serge Benhayon every day for showing me that I can listen to my body.
Kevin, I love the title of this blog – ‘An acquired taste’. And I love how you are now acquiring a taste for only accepting love in your life 🙂
That’s awesome Rebecca! “An acquired taste for accepting only love in one’s life” – YES! it is the only taste that’s full of wholesome flavour, the side effect being – more LOVE.
I can totally relate to this Kevin, learning (sometimes in extremis) to like things because I thought they were cool, or rebellious, or through peer pressure… and then once the ‘acquisition’ had been made, finding it terribly difficult to give it up. Coming across Serge Benhayon has been a breath of fresh air, providing an alternative, and exposing the why behind the addictions, such that I am free (of most of them). And freer to be me.
Agree Simon, once the acquisition has been made, we are imprisoned by it and belief that this is who we are…how crazy is that…we are suddenly the “red wine lovers”, the “always happy and fun to be party girl”, the “easy life cruiser”….whatever we acquired to create an identity that then holds us captive in a supposed freedom that is nothing more than living in a self made cage with the door open and choosing not to get out of the cage. True freedom is living in the knowing that we are divine and that we are on earth and not from earth and that we are here to get out of here and not to indulge in abusive behaviors that we call fun, but that only reduce us in our expression and the knowing of who we are.
Simon who wouldn’t want to be freer to be themselves? What an incentive to give up the addiction of over riding our bodies that many of us have .
I too was the master of overriding my body’s desperate signals that it didn’t like, couldn’t stand and couldn’t deal with various food, drink and other substances that I used to inflict on it and it’s taken a long time and much introspection to figure out why I would ignore such an incredibly wise messenger. I know now that it was because I was trying to fit in (alcohol), thinking it was cool (smoking), there was an emptiness to fill (chocolate), my body was exhausted and needed it (more chocolate) – the list of reasons was endless. Today this list has all but disappeared and the messages are listened to intently and acted on as I have finally come to love, respect and honour this wise vessel that has been with me every single step of this life.
It is astounding how we train ourselves to like things to which our initial physical reaction is one of repulsion and sometimes-even pain. It is such a powerful reflection of how much more importance we put upon the external world, however mis-aligned it is to our true nature and which our body so loudly communicates to us, rather than that which is harmonious to our true being.
‘It is as if in overriding our senses we create a form of dependency, we open up a channel that was previously closed and once opened this channel keeps calling us.’ Thank you Doug. I am seeing how this phenomena works in all sorts of ways, not just with substances that we obviously take into our bodies but in relationships and life situations. We create a need and then something to fill the need. Our focus then is on the prop we use to make us feel ‘good’ when in truth we only have to look within and build our connection from there and allow a deeper sense of honesty. By saying no to the things that obviously are not supporting us other things begin to show up in the same light to be discarded.
Thank you Kevin – it is amazing how complicated we make life by over riding all our natural instincts to take on these ‘Acquired’ tastes and as you say ignore our sensitive taste buds. I feel I was trying to acquire a certain identity – I would only drink ground coffee etc. etc. as it gave me a feeling of superiority. I never for a moment stopped and wondered how my body felt about what I drank and ate – and smoked. My body definitely appreciates the changes I have made and I now enjoy a more tender and sensitive relationship with it as I slowly learn to listen more attentively to what it has to say.
Having overridden my body many many times and ended up with habits that I then found myself fighting to stop, I can really relate to this, Kevin. There was such an identity with whatever it was, whether it was going to the pub with friends, or smoking drugs, or just having a glass of wine, all things that my body was saying, “please don’t”, but I would force myself to do because I didn’t want to be the odd one out or, more to the point, be alone.
I don’t do any of those things anymore, and I am far from alone. Not only do I have more and truer friends than I ever have, but I am friends with myself. I no longer feel disappointed with myself because I have a hangover, or don’t seem to be able to shake off smoking. And that came from finding a sense of self-worth through realising that the quality with which I live is my choice and is amazing to feel for myself.
It is very powerful indeed to find our self worth and live this every day.
Just had a moment of realisation that as a young 11 year old I would mimic my grandparents habit of smoking rollies. I’d collect all the old tobacco and make my own and puff away in hiding up in a bedroom watching the plumes of smoke as my lips burned with the nicotine – I felt a grown up as this is what grown ups did? Thank goodness the realisation came that I had a choice and it put me off for life to go there again. I agree Kevin once we start to truly listen to our taste buds – so many amazing changes occur both on the inside and the outside of our bodies.
Kev, you are the ultimate in cool. Because you have made saying ‘no’ your new way, it is now the new way. Trend-setter extraordinaire.
Love this Kevin. Inspiring how you’ve had a look at the reasons underlying what’s not so supportive, allowed yourself to feel the impact of those choices, and made changes from there. Just feeling what the body needs, and giving ourselves the space to feel why we make unloving choices, can empower us to change them.
Interesting that it can work the other way too. For example, restricting ourselves to a rigid diet of what we ‘should’ eat can be just as unloving and unsupportive as putting harmful substances into our bodies, because the energy behind it is the same: it’s coming from our head, what we ‘think’ will make us feel good, or what we think we want, and not what the body is actually telling us it needs.
I am very conscious of the number of people still living with ‘acquired taste’ syndrome, wear it as a badge of honour, and believe it to be a mark of cool, high culture and discernment, especially with some of the foods mentioned by Kevin: cheese, wine, coffee, chocolate, other ‘delicacies’. There is a flip side. When in the presence of someone that declines all offers to join the club, people can be affronted or go into sympathy because they feel to decline their offer is a form of self deprivation! Even though it’s clear this is not the case. It’s simply a choice. There is a flip side. Remaining consistent and steady in our own food and life-style choices, reflects another way and relationship with food and this sometimes leads others to question their own choices. They may continue to do the same things, but the seed is sown with an awareness that different choices can be made that are more related to how they feel, not based on what they’ve be trained to do.
Awesome Kehinde – you said it all here, and it is absolutely true. I have found that too by just staying with me and not buying into other peoples ideas of what is ok to eat or drink,I have observed others make some changes over a period of time,some even commenting that they were inspired to see for themselves what difference they could make in their lives too. And that was only through stating my truth and relating it totally to how my body responds to things and how I feel as a result of it.
Overriding what our bodies clearly indicate to us what is or is not ‘good’ for us. Yet to go with that natural flow would have been so much easier. In reflection, it was very energy sapping and time consuming to constantly rebel against what was nourishing to then put so much energy into overriding and creating the many habits that were not.
I can wholeheartedly relate to what your saying Kevin, the smokes, alcohol and a wide range of foods were my poison also
‘My poison’. Powerful expression Joe and it takes some honesty to admit that we used to poison ourselves. How far away from feeling the truth of my preciousness have I been to want to poison body!
Great question Bernadette? It’s one I ask myself when I choose to make unloving choices for myself.
And how often have we heard that phrase though ‘what’s your poison’ when being asked what we would like to drink … so we do know on all levels…
I too can relate to taking poisons but being able to justify this to myself and only changing when I could address what I was trying to avoid or numb.
I feel all of you in this blog Kevin. But then I do whenever in your presence. What you share is profound, yet easily overlooked because we are schooled from an early age to condition our bodies to accept anything. Consequently, many of our food and drink choices are acquired, rather than felt from the body. Convincing ourselves that we enjoy certain foods, when in reality we may not but continue to eat them just to want to be like everyone else is a joke, that is anything but funny.
Absolutely Kehinde, I agree. Many of our food/drink choices are ‘acquired’ rather than developed through experimenting with what we feel supports us.
This is important to become aware of how we go about with what our body is telling us and how we respond to that in life. I also have drunk alcohol and coffee, smoked cigarettes and even smoked pipe for a short period of my life, but what you say Kevin, I had to learn to use these substances as in the first instance they felt not right as my body reacted negatively and with disgust to it. I now can say that I could allow this abuse to my body, as I would call it, because I was void of self love, as being full and loving with myself would have prevented me to override these clear signals my body was giving me
Kevin love your openness and honesty. I can so relate to eating and drinking which made me sick and it taste awful, but I continued to acquire taste to fit in. I remember my first time I had white wine, I disliked it straight away, yet I kept drinking it until I was sick, just because I was out with girls at a hen party and I was trying to fit in. I had an awful experience. I couldn’t then touch white wine again and so I slowly started to acquire taste for red wine.
Things we do just to ‘fit in’, and be normal….. Drinking, smoking, drugs, over-eating and eating the wrong foods etc because it all has become so easily available and is the accepted norm. The tide of our life changes, when we realise we no longer have to fit in and make the same choices as every-one else, which is deeply supportive in re-claiming our innate power and wisdom.
Wow Kevin what an amazing sharing totally real and relateable to a lot of people who have experienced similar patterns and behaviours. I love how you bring the truth of you needing to acquire these tastes. This is so true – our bodies do tell us loudly when we first try these things that they don’t belong in it. But sadly the pressure and the accepted societal norm of these behaviours support us to override the wisdom of our body.
Johanna, it is true what you say about peer pressure and many people can describe how horrible it is to be put in a situation where if you go against your true nature you will be accepted, but if you stay true, you will be ridiculed. When we sell out ourselves and enjoin the self-abuse club it makes it harder for the young people who see all this playing out and are faced with the same choice. Collectively we are responsible for the ills of our society and there is much we can do to heal them.
Taste buds! I have stopped connecting to them! I´ve just realised…. why is this so? I just felt it is related with acceptance…(a forever unfolding topic). Taste buds are key when accepting that we truly know what doesn´t feel right, and the fact of us not accepting this, lead us to overide what they tell to then say: “self-abuse you are wellcome here”. Something for me to ponder on deeper…Thank you.
This is interesting and something I can relate to:
“I often think I miss the taste of things but on looking at this a little deeper I wonder if I actually do.”
Nowdays when I feel that I miss the taste/effect of certain things, I then question if it is not me who I really miss or me knowing how to handle and allow my own light to come out.
Good point Luz Helena, I also have wondered at times if I miss the taste of something, especially when I smell something appealing. And I love how you put to us here if it is rather missing ourselves in our full light; awesome realisation Luz and something to truly ponder upon.
Incredible how we override the initial sensations of dislike or disgust of certain things yet persist because its the cool thing to do or that we just want to fit in. We force ourselves into having habits that don’t support us and that eventually cause us great harm. All the while these foods and vices numb and disconnect us from feeling how lovely and gorgeous and we actually are and loosing our connection to God.
Yes Matthew and how we can also override and allow ourselves or others to be physically rough with our bodies, or do activities that we wouldn’t usually do, just to fit in. When we start accepting how super sensitive we are and that we feel everything all of the time, certain ‘bad’ habits simply drop away because they are felt for what they are and the harm they do.
For me a big contributing factor was the “group” – belonging to a group was very important. And when everybody in the group was drinking alcohol or eating unhealthy food, as long as I belonged to the group, everything was fine. I’m so grateful, that today I can feel my own body, and my body tells me exactly what to eat or drink regardless of what the other people are eating or drinking.
This is huge. If we think on the thousands, millions of people out there that can relate to this story (myself on the list off-course), and the fact that we “learn” or as you well put it “acquire a taste” for really horrible substances and drinks… always knowing how wrong they really are. I smoked weed, whatever, for quite a long time, and it was always the worst thing I could do, I knew it, I knew it, and I knew it..so why did I insist? Many reasons (fit in, run away from flatness and sadness), no matter what I did insist in spite of the truly unwanted, undesired, and disempowering effects. Now I know the answer: EMPTYNESS, the empytness of the human being, the lack of true connection, how we sell out to tendencies in society to fit in, and fill up the void, and mailny as you say: “…Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse”.
I believe I knew who I was and that I had great dignity when I used to take all of those substances, but the truth is I didn´t have true love for myself and self-abuse was just Normal. Yes, it is great we are constantly shown there is another way, a way that really awakens who we really are inside, and has nothing to do, ever, ever with the emptyness and the self-abuse we were driven by. Thank you for sharing, and for saying it how it is, simple.
The thing here is that I wasn’t even aware I lacked self- love or self -worth I was under the total illusion I was having fun not seeing it as self destructive at all.
Yes otherwise you would have made different choices much sooner, like we all would. Great blog Kevin and awesome what you have transformed for yourself.
Amazingly Kevin I didn’t know I lacked self-love either. I just thought what I felt was normal, yet how, in all honesty, can not totally and completely cherishing yourself be normal? How can not particularly liking yourself be normal? It’s when we ask these kind of questions we see just how messed up the world is.
“Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse” – and when self-abuse is a socially accepted normal, how would we know the truth of what we are doing to ourselves and why? It would be pretty hard, if not impossible. The majority of the population has gone way off the mark in honesty, and we have learnt to compartmentalise and shrink the information we have gained through research and our own experiences to segregate life from the truth known within us.
How completely insane that we’re gifted a set of super-sensitised taste buds and yet go out of our way to invest heavily in overriding the dedicated, honourable, supportive, protective truth of what they’re relaying to us – and all so we can be accepted by others for fitting in and being like the rest – whose taste buds have no doubt gone through the same assault and battery in their own journey through perseverance.
Oh I love this Cathy – you said it so well: ” …we’re gifted a set of super-sensitised taste buds” – how blessed are we and what joy when we listen to their messages.
I like this Cathy, our body has some huge sensory capabilities that give us the perfect early warning system, yet we do need to override things consistently to ignore what it is showing us.
What a delightful read, Kevin. I really love your style. “I persevered until I acquired the taste” – I totally get that, and I thought I was maturing when I could master and have trained myself up to intake whatever difficult/disgusting/unpleasant without a grimace. I can laugh the stupidity of it now, but how we learn to abandon our body is just astounding.
Great blog Kevin! It made me remember similar things I “acquired a taste” for that in the first instance didn’t feel great to taste at all!!! The big ones for me were alcohol and coffee, and in relation to both, it’s actually amazing exactly how much we can override because for me, in the case of coffee, it kept getting stronger and stronger over time. When I look back on this now, I can feel that the reason I was drinking coffee (which was exhaustion) was not being addressed and so as my body spoke louder, I had to step up the over-ride & hence stronger and stronger coffee. It was only when I really got honest about why I needed these props in my daily life and stopping ignoring the signals from my body, that I was able to give them up.
Great Blog Kevin.
I feel that many of us can relate to your story. Getting used to something that we don’t like to fit in or be cool is so common. Making compromises when it comes to our bodies is something that should not happen these days and yet we are almost encouraged on a daily basis to do this.
Thank God for those that have now chosen a more self-loving way. For those that choose love….The taste of life never felt so delicious 🙂
What made me laugh in recognition was the way you described how you persisted with each thing that you really didn’t like the taste of. I did exactly the same thing. Simply crazy when you thinks about it. We get the instant message from our body that says no, but we continue until we just get used to, or worse addicted to it.
I can absolutely relate to pushing aside how I truly felt about certain foods or substances to pursue things I knew weren’t good for me. It is amazing however, how they just slowly drop out of your life when you bring self-love and self-worth into the picture. I too am deeply grateful for the inspiration offered by the Benhayons for God knows where I’d be if I had continued living the self abusive way I was.
Kev, I love how you simply expose the process we all go through to try and love substances that we don’t actually like the taste of. Our bodies give us these very clear markers of when food is not right for our bodies and the effort required to overcome this is quite big. Whisky is a very obvious one, so strong and destructive as it is, yet I remember the first time I drank beer, it was only how normalised it was that made me persevere, that need to fit in making me overcome my initial revulsion to the taste and smell.
Its amazing Kevin you are making choices to support yourself and your body and health, from self love and appreciation and not from being in a major health crisis or from being diagnosed with a life threatening disease as many men our age are, you are a role model for other men to do the same.
Thank you Kevin for exposing the consciousness behind food and drinks, I never realized that certain food are considered sophisticated and trendy or cool to eat, and how much we are influenced by others and outer images and ideals to what we consume, rather than having a deep relationship with our body’s, and asking our body what it needs to function well.
I remember drinking beer the first time and how disgusting it tasted (particularly as we used to drink it warm in the UK!), but as all the adults and my friends drank it, I kept persevering, until I manage to pour this disgusting drink down my throat, and feel dreadful because of the affects of the alcohol, just to fit in and be accepted.
What you have raised Kevin feels to be of important note for us all, how we learn to acquire a taste for something, a food a drink that on first taste is disgusting and our body is telling us so loud and clear, yet we learn to override our body’s and taste buds with our minds, and yet it is our body’s that have to suffer the ill consequences of our bad choices of what we put in them.
I really appreciate the simplicity and honesty with which you have written Kevin, it’s very refreshing to hear, when someone writes from their direct lived experience, and not from a theory or concept of life or health matters.
An acquired taste – yes Kevin I can relate. I recall persisting with red wine – the clincher was the fact that I felt really mellow with the second glass, and it tasted better. Goes to show that I was simply wanting to check-out.
When reading what you have shared here Kevin it makes no sense to me at all that we, consciously choose to override how we feel in our body. As you so beautifully expressed our tastebuds and we are so sensitive, so why would we choose to ignore that fact and do or eat something awful, just to fit in. It’s a great reminder to honour what you feel and to know that your body is the best indicator of truth, it will never lie, but it is up to us to choose to listen.
Dear Kevin,
A very powerful, yet simple blog. It is so true, most things that are harmful to our bodies make us feel sick, or taste bitter. It is fully understood how sugar has become such a hugely consumed item in our world, for it is used so widely to counteract the bitterness of other tastes. Soft drink mixed with alcohol, sugar in tea and coffee etc. yet sugar too makes us feel sluggish and exhausted. What you share here Kevin so needs to be offered more widely in our world, like Marcia says above, shared more widely with men, as so many men suffer through the mid life crisis, without any connection to there being very real practical things that they can do to support them and to watch the crisis turn into mid life delight, something you fully embody.
It has always amused me that certain foods and drinks are considered fashionable or sophisticated, despite their detrimental effect on our bodies. Should we be nourishing ourselves with foods and recreational activities that look ‘cool’ to others or ones that feel honouring and supportive in our bodies?
Isn’t it ridiculous how we force ourself to like something all for the sake of fitting in to be ‘normal’. For instance, although it took me until my mid thirties I eventually started to drink alcohol, even though I never really liked it and knew that it wasn’t good for me, but I wanted to be like everyone else so over-road what I knew to be true. And that could be said about many of my past ‘acquired tastes’ in regard to disregarding what my body knew was best. When I started once again taking responsibility and valuing and truly caring about myself, I found those past harmful behaviours, which I realised came from feelings of lack of self-worth, very easy to stop. I too am so thankful that I came into contact with Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, who supported me in connecting back to what I truly had always known but had dismissed and that is, of the responsibility I have in caring deeply for not only myself but the effects that has on everyone else.
Kevin it is amazing to reflect on all the things we consume because they are considered ‘normal’, ‘ok’ or ‘good for us’, without actually truly discerning whether our body wants to ingest them. This is partially due to the fact that discerning what our body truly needs is not taught or fostered in our young. Hence we grow up and are easily influenced by the many array of choices around us. As you say Kevin – we can feel contracted to these choices that have us in a spiral of choosing them. Re-building love in our bodies once again is key if we are to make choices that truly support us, and come out of these harming spirals.
I really enjoyed reading your blog Kevin, I know how my body and therefore my taste said no to butter, milk, cheese, black coffee, beer and wine,, smoke and some more. Why override this sensitive body, why not honour and be with our body, just like you I feel so much more of me since I let everything I learned to eat go. And I love your photo letting your tenderness and love out for all to see!
I can remember this too Doug, at first I had beer and it always made me sneeze as I couldn’t handle the yeast but I kept going with it too and then went onto Guinness and forced myself to like it when I actually didn’t like it but kept going until I thought I loved it.
Yes, Guinness was an acquired taste of mine also, my first taste was pretty horrible if I remembered but I persevered as I was going to Dublin for New Years Eve, but I drank too much of the stuff and slept in and missed the bus and it was a non transferable ticket so I drove to Scotland instead.
See not only does it override our taste buds and body but ruins our plans and schedules as well! : ) Oh I soooooooo do not miss hangovers.
I have to echo you here Vicky as there is nothing I miss about the poisoning of alcohol and the hangovers that follow.
Oh yes – I wholeheartedly agree with you Vicky – looking back I find it hard to believe how determined I was to not listen to the wisdom my body was offering!
” Oh I soooooooo do not miss hangovers”
Me neither – I never liked drinking really anyway, and drinking over the top was the worst ever. So so so glad those days are many many years gone by.
I remember drinking Guinness and become very partial to it over time, but one of the last time’s I drank I had become more aware of my senses and each mouthful of Guinness felt like I had a poison sloshing around in my stomach, which I suppose in a very literal sense I did.
When I lived in the UK in th 80’s I saw a lot of the girls drink Guinness with Blackcurrant juice, all to take that ghastly taste away. In Germany you could drink dark beer with strawberry syrup as well – a drink for the girls again, apparently.
I remember trying beer once, purely to try and impress the men around me by showing them I was cool and tough. How silly, it was disgusting and I could’t even drink it to be cool, and why on earth did I want to be tough? Amazingly our bodies always know exactly who we are.
“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.” I so relate to what you describe here, Kevin, how we strive to acquire the taste for the items you have described. For me, it was similar. I had my first cigarette as a very junior secretary, when a client had left behind the remains of a packet and several of us tried to smoke one. I will never forget the ghastliness that I experienced, almost choking. That finished that one for me, I did not persevere, thank goodness. But the white wine got me in the end, totally with the goal to fit in with others. My first one was very sweet, which was the fashion at the time. I could never have more than one, it would make me feel so sick. Then I found the drier varieties, much more palatable, and I would sometimes be able to drink one more glass. I would always be able to gradually sip away, making it last, but, now I could fit in with the crowd, to some extent anyway. How crazy it is that we do this, our bodies tell us from the beginning that these items are not good for us. It also tells us about various foodstuffs, such as the heavy gluten breads that we so love to eat. I remember years ago finding that I could only eat half a ‘hot cross bun’, dutifully toasted at Easter, it was like a piece of lead in my stomach. Then later, I found I was gluten intolerant, but why did I not listen to my body from the beginning. And milk, oh yuk! This is something that I never truly liked, unless it was made up into something like a milkshake, to disguise the awful taste of it. But I slowly acquired the taste to like cheese, that was a hard one to eventually completely dismiss. But since I have let all these items go from my life, I feel so much lighter, yes, lost weight, and feel so much brighter and am so much more healthy than I used to be ten years ago. I now listen to what my body tells me, and every so often another little item comes up for me to remove from my diet that no longer serves me. It is a very interesting and joy-full journey when one listens deeply to the body.
‘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 questions Kevin. There is so much about our bodies that we choose to override, perhaps to avoid the truth it is telling us.
I agree Michael, we do over ride our bodies heaps as they are always telling us the truth of the matter and often we do not want to hear, as we prefer to stay in the comfortable life we have created with no real challenges.
In choosing to override the messages that are constantly being given, highlights the fact we indeed do know at any given moment what are body wants to be fed should we so choose to be honest with ourselves and connect to truth.
Many foods, drinks and smokes fulfil a need. When the need goes, they often smell grotesque or in some cases even disgusting. I found it quite shocking how much my perception changed once my need was gone.
Indeed, Christoph, it is quite shocking to consider what we have overridden the body to consume, all for the sake of numbing the feelings we are not willing to deal with.
Great point Christoph! The thought of eating some foods and drinking alcohol now is unimaginable. Others though I can still imagine and miss, like freshly baked bread, even though it made me heavy and my body was saying ‘no more’!
This is very true Christoph. When we do not express the love that we are, we are left hungry and searching for everything and anything that will fill the seeming void we have thus created. Therefore, to renounce our vices we do not need to call upon the force of willpower, we need only return to the love we already are and commit to expressing this in full to the best of our ability. When we remember the taste of truth, anything less will be felt for the poison it is.
Dear Liane yes I can agree completely “When we do not express the love that we are, we are left hungry and searching for everything and anything that will fill the seeming void we have thus created.” The thing was that I did not know that – I was blind on that eye so to speak. I needed a little reminder what shakes me so that I could see under the surface and with that little shake there was no will power needed for change.
Liane I love your comment. It is super supportive and I can really feel the truth of, ‘When we remember the taste of truth, anything less will be felt for the poison it is.’ Being the love that I am I cannot deny this.
I love this line ‘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’.
I can relate to this and too easily we can just accept this as our normal instead of realising there can be a different choice for us, if we want it.
So true Kristy for years I just thought this was how life was and my life was pretty miserable. Then I met Serge Benhayon, he presented the fact that everything was a choice this was revelatory to me and at first I did not like it as that deemed me responsible for my life and I preferred to blame others as this reneged any responsibility for how my life turned out. Now I love it.
Amazing how pretty much everyone I have ever asked or have heard reports form that the first time they drank wine, smoked a cigarette or drank coffee etc that they body reacted grossly to the substance! Now the is a sure sign that something is up. You have told us that a lack of self-worth is what then causes us to continue these behaviours, to bludgeon our feelings, wouldn’t it just be easier to deal with the underlying issue? This is where people get stuck because we have been taught that life isn’t about feelings, it is about ‘getting through’, ‘seeking a solution’ and ‘toughening up’.
Well said Harrison, and I agree that we definitely haven’t been taught about feelings and how to listen and learn from them, instead being taught, as you say, to get through life the best we can. We have been taught, and shown by the example of others, to survive while all the while missing out on the possibility of a most marvelous life, one that is actually for living.
Spot on Harrison. The clues are all out there, we just choose to ignore them all and ‘power through’, ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’. Meanwhile, we’re all desperate to feel lighter, freer, more vital.
Yes Elodie the saying goes; ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’ but it should actually be: ‘What is killing us is much stronger’ if we would look at the complicated and illnesses and diseases that take people out nowadays. The things that we put our bodies through are getting more and more ridiculous.
Harrison this is so true. So when people realise if they continue using substances – food, drink,smoking, whatever- they are putting their life at risk so want to stop but don’t know how to live life without them. Where are the role models for most who can show us it is ok to feel, to be honest, when much of society’s message is everything in moderation and don’t tell me what is really going on?
When Kevin says, ‘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,’ it resonates. If people don’t feel there is any other way than ‘getting through’ life other than by numbing what we feel with whatever, then it is a little like a contract we have chosen to make with ourselves. It’s beautiful to realise that, because this ‘contract’ is with ourselves we have the choice to tear it up at any given moment!
Thanks Kevin. You have brought up such a great point, “Not having the self-love or self-worth would quite likely have been the deciding factor in carrying on the self-abuse” When we look at addictive behaviours, this is something that generally isntt looked at or isn’t considered to be related. Underneath everything is a lack of self worth, or love for self.
I so love your honesty and the down-to-earth rendition of your past choices, light-hearted and without an ounce of self-judgment in sight: “My resolve and stubbornness were legendary – not to mention thinking I was bulletproof.” Yes, I can relate to that and lived my own version of it until I met Serge Benhayon and got to know about the Ageless Wisdom, realising, just like you, that my body had always known but I had conveniently continued trying to shut it up.
‘…my body had always known but I had conveniently continued trying to shut it up.’ I would add here, ‘continuously trying to shut it up’ Gabriele. There are still things I sometimes do not want to see or feel and I am much better at uncovering these so I can feel the truth. I too love Kevin’s honesty here. This is a great sharing and I have just tweeted it!
Thank you Kevin, I too used to eat and drink a Multitude of things to try and fit in. I hated the taste of alcohol, I started drinking at age 13 I thought that it must be something you grow to like as you got older as my dad drunk copious amounts everyday. At 13 I drunk it for the effect and just put up with the horrible taste, I soon learned to add juice and found Pernod which made it easier to swallow, if going out I used to get a jam jar and take a small amount off the top of each bottle in my parents drink cabinet so they wouldn’t notice. We all did the same and used to laugh about how it always ended tasting the same really faul, we would then force ourselves to drink it for the effect to show how cool we were to put up with it and not gag! I no longer force myself to eat or drink anything that’s not loving for my body. I now understand the importance of self love and self nurture and listen to my body rather than overriding it.
Thanks for sharing your light, but slightly shocking experiences when young… I was particularly reminded of how we add juices, coconut milk etc as mixers to all the spirits to actually make them palatable. They taste foul on their own, like I imagine paint stripper would, but not when hidden in a multitude of other flavours… hence the popularity of these alcopops that have come to the market in the last few years.
Kevin, it’s so awesome to read your very honest and lived account of your past choices to now have turned it around to listening to your own bodies wisdom and what it truly needs. This will surely see you living your days honouring the delicate and tender man you have so beautifully revealed here.
A very inspiring read Kev, thank you. Like you, I too acquired a taste for many things for various reasons. They ” 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.” I would often go to eat something and my body would instantly react, but I would ignore the feeling and eat or drink it anyway. Our bodies are remarkable with regard to how they can detect whether it wants something or not, even from a distance. And its very cool to be willing to listen to it now, and give it what it wants and when it wants it. The benefits are significant and I know as soon as I do eat something that my body doesnt want it tells me very quickly. It is a constant refinement and one that I am learning more and more about everyday.
What is it about us that chooses complication of our heads, over the simplicity of our body? Could it be delay – in the sense of the fact we can knowingly not take responsibility for the choices we make, thus avoiding the simplicity of that which will support us all to evolve back to our true divine light and glory.
Questions I’ve asked myself also Gyl, I know for me I would associate responsibility with discipline, and discipline that meant less than easy or even fun, yet more and more what I’m discovering is that in fact responsibility is not something that need be considered as difficult to employ but in fact in not choosing to be responsible for my choices I’ve found that that is when life does become more and more difficult.
For me the main reason is, because we don’t want to feel the misery in our body. That is the reason, why we are able to override everything what is in our body and therefore making these unloving choices.
It’s crazy, like really crazy when we stop and think about it – our bodies from the day we are born until the day we die, so clearly tell us what is true for us, when our heads ( if we have chosen an energy that is not love) try to override those feelings with the complete opposite thoughts. For example eating when we don’t need food, or eating food that dulls our body from feeling energy and our innate connection to God.
Yes, Gyl, it is really crazy. Our bodies are constantly giving us messages, all through our lives, as to what is true for us to eat, how to be living our lives etc., but we do constantly over ride these ‘golden’ messages. I can so relate to eating when I am not truly hungry, have used this for much of my life, really only eating as a form of comfort, picking at things all day long, due to the huge feelings of emptiness that I have felt pretty constantly at times. I now realise that all this was for the sole reason that I did not want to feel the awfulness that I felt deep within me, the food dulling me from feeling that I felt so alone. It is so obvious to me now, that the enormous pain that I was feeling was my separation from God, I had lost my connection to the great love that I have now found has been within me all along. It was just there for me to connect to, but I no longer realised that, nor did I know how, until I met Serge Benhayon who reminded me of this enormous knowledge that has been available for us all along. To the best of my ability, I now live this love in my everyday life, something I could never ever walk away from again. No more emptiness for me.
Gyl I have to agree, we are crazy, for we are going against our very nature, against the wisdom of our body. I can relate to your example of eating when not really hungry. Lately I have been overriding the imposing international dietary guidelines that outline a 3 meals a day ideal. What I have found is that most often I do not need dinner and I feel much lighter and brighter for not eating by the clock and following my body’s own rhythms which when adhered are nothing even close to 3 meals a day at prescribed intervals.
Gyl- I totally agree with you- it’s crazy that we so often override what our bodies are clearly saying to us to fit in, be part of what society says is the fashion trend or because of our culture, religious belief etc.
Why is it that we consume certain foods and drinks when we are not hungry or necessarily thirsty, but we are attending a party or function? Do we stop to feel our body’s call?
It is crazy Gyl. And we do know this because even when we chose to override the consumption of some things we then need to learn the hard way. For example when a person first tried smoking or alcohol the body very loudly screams ‘this is not good for me’- yet when this is overridden and then becomes an ‘acquired taste’ then it becomes a need and addiction THEN finally the harm of it is understood only for one to try and give up the extremely poor habit in the first place. Crazy and a huge waste of time. Especially if we look at all the years that we spend away from the deep beauty we were born with as children.
And from when we are born, we are often fed foods that we ought to not really put into our bodies, and as children we are told it’s good for us etc etc, so this learnt behaviour then gets carried forward into our adult life, until we make a conscious choice to look at what we are doing to our selves and most importantly, why.
Congratulations Kevin on coming back to your body and your true wisdom. I have to ask myself why would I have done this or that which was exposing my body to harmful ways of living. The answer I have come to is that I wasn’t aware and didn’t understand or appreciate the amazingness of how every particle of my body works together and I need to honour that and not be in disregard.
Yes Susan & Kevin and All
We are waking up now to the fact that our bodies are not only EXTRAORDINARY vehicles of expression for each and every one of us but also have a purpose both for ourselves and every other person. Our bodies are precious and to treat them in any other way seems irresponsible.
Great comment Kathryn , I wrote this blog quite some time ago and I have been looking at the areas of my life where I still slump back into being irresponsible and realise how much worse it is when I know what the truth is and yet brush over or ignore it. We are divinely connected so what we do to ourselves we also do to others.
Dear Kevin, I love the simple truth you present in this blog.
Me too. It’s so real yet plainly truthful. It presents truth in a way that it is unavoidable for one to consider.
Phew no midlife crisis in sight as your missus that is a relief – just joking! But as someone who has bore witness to your ‘past’ life and current one it is nothing short of miraculous how much more love and care you have for yourself. And it is true you look 10 years younger, you were always a very beautiful sweet tender man, now you just let us all see it. YAY.
🙂 love this comment. I remember Kevin back in the day and his transformation has been truly remarkable. It is such a blessing to see the power of bringing love and care into his life. To see the inspiration he embraced to make the changes he has now inspiring others to do the same, is truly beautiful.
This is a gorgeous expression Vanessa. Thank you for sharing it with us all.
Love the honouring here Vanessa, that Kevin has always been a gentle man, but is now being more open in sharing that with all of us. Gorgeous to feel.
Beautiful honouring and appreciating of your man Vanessa, thank you for sharing it with us all.
Lovely expression Vanessa – a true acknowledgement and appreciation of your man from then and now, very moving,
It is sweet to savour your return to appreciating your true sensitivity Kevin. Your words remind me just how there can be a strange reward in ‘getting used to’ unloving foods or circumstances. The small boost to an ego is nothing compared to honouring and claiming what we know to be true.
Agreed – “honouring and claiming what is true” provides a very loving foundation and solidness to our life whereas those ego boosts evaporate as quickly as they pop up and also, the higher they go the deeper we fall.
I love your honesty here when you write: ‘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 have had similar thoughts. I had in the past tried to give this or that up but in the end, I didn’t really care about myself and had that belief that you are going to die anyway so it doesn’t matter. I, like you so appreciate that I met Serge Benhayon and have been inspired by the Way of the Livingness to change my ways and to realise that I am not bulletproof.
Isn’t it interesting that no matter how much we try to give up this or that, if we feel that we’re worthless and do not appreciate ourselves we often either move onto a new method of burying our feelings or go back to old habits after a period of dieting/detoxing. This emphasises the importance of looking at our feelings underneath all of the surface level habits rather than try to force change when we feel no true motivation to do so.
Love your blog Kevin, and how you shared your acquired taste! Made me think of mouldy blue cheese and a few other things that I could no longer eat but thought were good at some point in my life because they were fancy and expensive.
Yes, another trick for us, the sophistication and exoticness of certain things, making us feel cool or groovy!! When these things do not support us at all.
It is really interesting that we acquire tastes of things that our body is actually saying no to. I tried anchovies and my body said these are far too salty but I persisted as people said that they were delicious in our cooking! We eat some things so we feel we “belong” and it makes us feel “normal”. My new “normal” is very different now as I listen to my body and I feel great! Thank you, Kevin, there is much to ponder here.
I agree Anne, we do eat certain things so we feel we ‘belong’ and are part of the group, for example sugar. When I first went sugar free, and went to a birthday party, I would feel I was missing out ( on the cake yes) but more so what stood out was that I was choosing something different from everybody else, which made me stand out….. My solution was I started to take my own health alternative…
Thank you for sharing Kevin. This article supports me to reflect on the choices I have made about what I put in my body over the years. Some of the reactions I had to drugs and alcohol were downright horrific and yet I persisted in order to fit in yes but also as a way to numb myself against the many things that felt wrong with the world and I.
Like you I am not sure I would ever have been able to stop if I had not discovered Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I tried many times, however, because I had no true reflection of self love I had no understanding of how to love myself through the process, as a result my detoxes were harsh, brutal, short lived and followed by rapid retoxing that left me feeling worse than ever. Self love is the only detox any of us really need. When you love yourself it is impossible to ingest or inhale any substance that harms you.
Great blog Kevin. Acquired tastes are certainly just another way of saying we are overriding our bodies innate messages, but interestingly it can work the other way too.. when we have got used to an acquired taste and it changes and morphs our perceptions and desired tastes that we possess. I know when I was choosing to no longer eat cheese my mind was going crazy for the taste of cheese in my mouth (a complete comfort and indulgence!) while my body was saying to pursue and enjoy the foods without it. I can now say I will never go back to cheese and even the thought of the taste makes me feel sick
As a child I could not eat any cheese whatsoever, even just to sit a small cube of cheese on my tongue would make me vomit… The message from my body was so clear – no cheese thankyou!
Love this Joshua..”Acquired tastes are certainly just another way of saying we are overriding our bodies innate messages”… so very true that it works in both directions…toward s and away from healthier choices.
Yes I so agree, and it is amazing what an implication that expression carries – “an acquired taste’ …
I agree Joshua, it can work the other way too. It is true that the body is always very clear in what it is communicating, if we are willing to listen. When I stopped eating things that were not good for me I too remember those moments that my mind was going crazy for the taste in my mouth. For instance with cheese, and when I gave in and had a little piece my throat would burn and I would cough for like 10 to 15 minutes. Giving up dairy Ice cream was another great example. I loved the taste and texture of it and even though my body was very clear that it couldn’t handle dairy, I still continued to eat bits of ice-cream until my body would protest, and now even just one spoon can make me so sick that I can end up fainting or passing out.
Isn’t it amazing what we will do to fit in! I totally resonate with what you say Kevin I too for many years drank, smoked and ate things that felt poisonous in my body because everyone else did it and it just seemed ‘normal’. My body did get sick and I really had to change my habits in order to regain my health. Since I started listening to by body and stopped imbibing what I now realise were mind altering substances I feel so much better in my Self physically, mentally and emotionally. As you say there is another way it just takes the courage to be true to your Self and listen to what your body needs rather than what your mind craves!
I agree Kevin, so many things I used to eat or drink because it was like a habit, something to do to fit within society, just to conform!
Mine too Richard – couldn’t even imagine what my body would do immediately…
I recently realised that I needed to turn the whole thing about conforming upside down, and confirm that I am conforming to me, not anyone else. This released me from the hook of feeling that I was the odd one out and unusual. To conform to my own choices is very powerful, a dedication to my own well being, and makes it completely natural and acceptable. Then those who eat from habit and unawareness are the non conformists.
Yes Richard, it is almost unheard of these days that having a drink today would actually spoil my good time. What have we come to as a society, to believe that in order to have a good time we need to have alcohol or even drugs, that will alter the very essence of our being.
We have such a loyal ally in our body, one that is with us 24/7 and is forever nudging us and alerting us to what does not seem right. Crazy that we learn to not listen to it and indeed learn to pride ourself for being headstrong and going the exact opposite. And even more crazy that we get used to it and becomes an acquired taste that we are prepared to fight for.
Since I have started to pay attention so much has turned round for me too. Yet I keep catching myself because whenever I am about to take a step to expand in an area, the propensity to enlist things that may sabotage seems to be always there, lurking, waiting for an off moment to lie or defend an old acquired taste. I have found it to be an ongoing unfolding refinement well worth pursuing.
‘Yet I keep catching myself because whenever I am about to take a step to expand in an area, the propensity to enlist things that may sabotage seems to be always there, lurking, waiting for an off moment to lie or defend an old acquired taste.’ Yes Golnaz I can really relate to the propensity to sabotage myself after choosing the path of expansion and the need for vigilance in this area and always being willing to come back to the body and truly listen.
Kevin – you make such an amazing point here about these days being able to make your mind up about the taste of things – you are in complete control and taking responsibility for what you do and don’t put into your body. I can say that alcohol to me was something i tried because how could it not be fabulous if so many people drink it? But like you, it took me ages to get to ‘like’ it – and even then – I think I liked what it did to me more than how it tasted – I was very happy to let alcohol give me a reason to escape.
The list goes on but there are so many things in life that we force ourselves to adjust too because it is seen as accepted – but is it right? To make the choices from our bodies rather than our heads is to live in a way that honours the body first and foremost and takes complete responsibility for that.
Like you Hannah, for me it was the effect…. the hit from the cigarette, the woozy checked out feeling – I just had to override the obvious ‘distaste’ that came with it. In retrospect its ridiculous.
It is easy to see what is not love when we are not standing in it. Not so when we have chosen otherwise.
The best judge of what alcohol actually tastes like is a child. I was at a kids party once but all the adults were drinking and one of my boys picked up some wine and had sip, they spat it out and screamed “there is off mango in this cup, disgusting”.
I drank alcohol for most of my life and at the time I thought I loved it but if I had a sip now I think I would probably spit to out just like my son did.
Reading this it exposes for me how many choices i made in life based on what was happening around me and the choices others were making, I would either align or react and go the totally opposite way, very rarely stopping and truly feeling what was right for me.
Yes it is so exposing Nicole, shows how often we ignore the truth our body expresses just to fit in or be a part of the group, rather than stopping and listening to what is true for us as individuals.
I agree Jade that this blog exposes the depth of disregard we put our bodies into just for the sake of fitting in and not standing out in the crowd. I used to do exactly that with huge consequences to my body, but these days my body comes first and the feelings of not fitting in are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Oh me too Nicole. And the maths is devastating, for I think I made 90% of choices against my own knowing and impulses just to fit in or rebel, but mostly because I could not sense anything better on offer. Today thanks to Serge Benhayon and Esoteric Women’s health I have tipped the scale to 95% of choices in favour of what I feel is right for me and boy oh boy has that changed everything.
And that is the key isn’t it Nicole – to truly feel what is right for us at any given moment. I can say I also would either align, react or oppose strongly – so glad these days are done and that listening to the body has become a way of life for me.
This is true for many people Nicole – we often make choices influenced or based on what is happening around us, rather than from our own feeling of what is right to do in that moment. In my experience it is truly liberating to make a decision based on what WE feel to do, not because of our presumptions of how others will react or out of worry of what can go ‘wrong’.
Some might perceive that peer pressure or influences from outside are only strong when we are in our teens but in my experience the pressure continues into our adult life.
What you share Susie is key, it is all to often that we are influenced, we could probably go so far as to say that we are always influenced, it is simply the movements that we make that will guarantee how solid we are and what influence we align to.
Absolute Genius Susie! When I think back to all the times I made choices that I were not so good for me, It was because I had seen others doing it before and said in my head “If they do it it okay I will do it too”, this was a phrase I would use to justify the choices! What is more scary? Standing out in power? or the horrible after effects of choices we know don’t serve us, the latter is more scary.
Kevin, You are the coolest and you look absolutely great!
Hear hear – can only second that!
I like the title Kevin ‘acquired taste’ – that says it all really. Especially as we know what does and what does not taste good, but we still persevere anyway. It seems crazy now when I look back at trying my hardest to like smoking and different tasting alcohols, knowing all along that my body was rejecting my efforts.
Kevin, great blog, it describes very simple and to the point how we think we make choices but they are actually made for us until we learn to listen to our body.
As I read it I could feel how my taste buds respond to certain things, when I ate a lot of junk food I couldn’t feel this because it was like my tongue was numb and covered in a layer of fatty and it had lost it sensitivity and ability to pick up flavours of food, now though my tongue feels a lot clearer. If I eat something that isn’t right for me my tongue reacts and swells up.
So true, I had that experience the other day. I had a weak moment at the movies with my kids and ate a handful of salty chips and a couple of lollies and my tongue was all cut up and stinging for the rest of the day. I used to be able to eat a whole pack of chips.
And also the power of honesty in all of this. Fabulous sharing Kevin’s honesty. Thank you.
Isn’t it wonderful that we have such an awesome vehicle of expression – the body – to talk to us all the time. All it takes for us is to truly listen and heed its counsel.
” … not something I was contracted to for life.” Brilliant to have this put into words, thank you so much … have recently realised this with my finances, that I don’t have to live with debt. It applies to many life matters, we can change things to be as we wish, so that we’re choosing to live in joy rather than struggling through an existence with our self-written ‘contracts’.
Yes, Marian. I love that sentence, too. I only recently realised that I was still living by a very old contract and was living compromised for most of my life. It really is liberating when we wake up to the self-limiting belief and structures we have constructed around us to stop ourselves from going for and embracing the fullness of what life offers.
Marian, I recognise this self-written contract with regards to my finances; give to everyone else first which left nothing for me…I had no energy left for my own life, which my lack of finances always reflecting, but that habit was so ingrained, it became unconscious. It took me a long time to cut the cord to that old habit, but now the tide has changed, I put myself first in my life, I take care of me first, and for some time now there has been no struggle with money. Plus, I am able to save ( which I could not do before) which provides the confirmation.
Looking back there were times when I though I was not going to get out of what I was doing alive, that’s a bit dramatic, but the way I lived was a way of life that I couldn’t see a way out of, I was comfortable and had many like minded people around me doing the same things so everything seemed fine and acceptable but the poor old body was just screaming for a bit of tender loving care.
The way I carried on Kevin, there was a real possibility of death, at least 4 or more people from my circles died very young from the lifestyle choices I was making. I thought I was invincible, wine bars, French champagne and regularly powdering my nose in the bathroom, was the way to celebrate occasions, occasions that seemed to pop up every couple of nights! Although even if there was no occasion afternoon beers at the pub were always in order that lead into midnight pizza once the pub shut, that carried on to endless records back at so and so’s house and chain smoking until the sun came up.
These days my celebration is the fact that I have a healthy body, a sharp wit, a golden sense of humour and loads of love for my family and the wider community, as there is simply so much that I want to share with the world.
Hi Kevin – your description of life as it has been in the past mirrors what is happening for a high percentage of our population still. The wisdom available through checking in with the body does not have favourites – it is available to us all, so we have to look much deeper with a willingness to connect to the truth and ask what is really driving us. Comparison, recognition, jealousy, lack of self worth, fear of rejection – the list goes on. Anything that relies on feedback from the outside world is a slippery slope. Claiming who you truly are and making the choices that equal that love moves mountains. Get Blog Kevin, thanks for telling like it is.
“It made me sick – but I persevered until I acquired the taste.” – how many things in life can we apply this too. Its amazing Kevin that we override the first responses and then make the acquired taste normal… The good news, we can acquire new tastes that don’t make us sick.
Yes so true Joel, Kevin is a living, breathing example as are so many other people on this site, of the fact that we can turn these choices around and begin to listen to, honour and treat our body and ourselves with great care. Making that choice far surpasses any acquired taste we could choose and supports us for a lifetime.
The question -“…how many things in life can we apply this to” – is a really important one, as other behaviours also deserve a good looking at that we have ‘acquired’ to fit in etc., it goes beyond food and drink which are the obvious ones to start with.
Beautifully said Joel, “we can acquire new tastes that don’t make us sick.”
I love this too Joel and Esther, makes everything so simple.
The perseverance shows the stubbornness of the human – determined at all bodily cost to make ‘that stuff’ go down and stay down.
Well said Lee Green. Sometimes it won’t stay down though, like that half a bottle of cheap tequila I downed when I was 14. The idea was drink it down and stay down but it didn’t work out that way. I persisted though and by the time I was 20 I refined and “graduated” my taste to top shelve uber expensive Tequila, which is even worse as it glamorises a substance that is really just flammable poison.
Us humans love to champion our ability to override what our bodies are telling us, by really investigating this trait it makes no sense at all.
Yes Kate this is woven through the fabric of our society and it is indeed quite bizarre a concept when it is broken down from an energetic prospective but also just practically.
So true Kate – we have invested so long in certain things and then often we are too proud to admit, that all the investment didn’t make sense right from the beginning.
Absolutely Kate – a sad and honest point. This makes me think of people in the gym working out until they make themselves sick then championing that this is a desired outcome. What are we trying to prove in this behaviour? You’re right, it makes no sense!
It’s interesting though that the term ‘acquired taste’ seems to apply in itself that the starting point was decidedly unpalatable and had to be overcome, either that or that most people don’t like it and only a few do. Both of these things should in them self heed a warning.
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? Great question Kevin.
Awesome blog Kevin and so true, we are given such sensitive bodies and yet act in ways that ignore such finely tuned senses. Being sensitive in this world is often linked with being weak or ‘precious’ (used in a derogatory way) but it is far from! And yet when someone is being insensitive it hurts us how crazy is that? being sensitive is something I have come to learn and am still developing a relationship with, it is totally worth being sensitive over being ‘cool’ or popular.
So awesome to read such an honest, vulnerable blog Kevin about all those popular “manish” ways that you have seen through and acknowledged are no longer serving you. Such integrity here in your choices. What a man you are having made choices that honor you more than ever before. This takes absoluteness and courage in this day and age. l look forward to the day that this becomes humanity’s new normal.
“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?” A good point Kevin. I too remember my first cigarette – disgusting. Ditto my first alcoholic drink. yet I pushed through, ignoring what my sensitive body was telling me, in order to ‘fit in’ with friends. Thanks to Serge Benhayon many of us have been shown that there is indeed ‘another way’.
Same for me Kevin there were many things that I ate and drank that I did not like the taste of but I over rode this by sweetening it with sugary substances in one form or another, which masked the initial taste, just so I could fit in…. the great thing is I am now able to see how much all these things that my body initially warned me about are actually harmful and poisonous to the body.
A great blog, Kevin. My trouble is that I like the taste of bitter but luckily I never like smoke. Dairy flew under my radar – I never noticed the slightly rotten smell of all dairy bar ice cream until I stopped having dairy.
Me too Christoph, I didn’t realise how sour dairy smelt until I stopped eating/drinking it. It’s like it curdles in your stomach and gives you bad breath. I spent some time in South Korea years ago and I remember the Korean students talking about how they thought westerners smelt bad because of dairy. Now I know what they mean!
I so relate to the dairy part too Christoph, like biscuits tasted always slightly rancid to me when baked with butter. Nowadays I really don’t even like the smell of dairy, be it milk yoghurt or cheeses.
I know what you mean Christoph, I can often feel sick when I smell dairy now and can smell it anywhere… but it didn’t stand out until I gave it up. We have super sensitive bodies that constantly pick up on everything, and I’ve found the more I refine how I care for my body the more obvious what doesn’t support stands out.
Yes me too Aimee – the more refined the quicker the realisation or the message of what is fine and what is not. Just awesome, our bodies…
Same Christoph regarding dairy. It was not until I started cutting down that I noticed the rotting quality of the aftertaste in my mouth.
In my work as a dentist people are always apologising for having eaten garlic the night before. It has never bothered me. People could bathe in it if they so desired!
What I find most difficult to handle now is the smell of people’s breath after they have had a white coffee – the rotting odour made worse by its partial digestion.
Friends of our children, were forever with snotty noses (not a good look) but after getting them off dairy their noses miraculously cleared up, yet another warning light that people tend to ignore or blame on the time of year.
Kevin such a solid piece of writing that I can really relate to. It really is quite unbelievable the things that we do to our bodies in the name of being cool, fitting in, numbing ourselves etc. The problem is because the whole world is doing it, it feels very normal and even expected. Self abuse is the way of life for most and we introduce it to our kids and dress it up in the form of ‘sport’ ‘working hard’, even the way that some kids are made to learn an instrument can be self abusive with hours and hours of practice. Heavens to Betsy what have we done!
Very inspiring Kevin, well done to you. I remember making myself eat and drink things which never felt great and often made me downright sick too, just to fit in. Crazy what we do to ourselves.
This ‘fitting in’ syndrome is really insidious isn’t it, it can be so strong that it overrides everything we inherently know but choose to not listen.
Isn’t it fascinating how so many people use alcohol, cigarettes and drugs as forms of distraction when they taste so vile? What you have described here Kevin is the power of our desire to fit in and our need for a way to check out. I am amazed at how you’ve come to realise that you don’t like or need those substances in your life; it takes a lot of courage to do that as they are such severely socially encouraged behaviours.
Love that Susie- we try to ‘fit in’ and often in this we ‘check out’ of what is actually true for us and how we feel.
Hitting the nail on the head… indeed.
And all of that in order to fit in – but: to fit in what? And if we all do this, what is everyone trying to fit in with, then?
There is a huge point you have made here Susie – on the one hand how crazy, yet powerful the behaviour is, and on the other that there is another way. That other way that has been taught and lived by Universal Medicine and its students holds a key to so many of the BIG problems of today…. the crippling burden on the NHS, alot of violence in society and domestically, drug abuse. It is a game changer.
It’s just mental isn’t it Susie? When we give ourselves a moment to step back and actually look at what the hell we encourage amongst ourselves, it’s just shocking. We actively encourage self destruction. So nonsensical!
Yes that trying to fit in is bizarre isn’t it – because if we are all trying to ‘fit in’ it would conclude that no-one really knows what they are trying to fit into?
Such an awesome realisation Lee – indeed, what are we all trying to fit in if everyone is trying to fit in to belong – to what indeed!
Had to laugh at the irony here Lee…it is a great point however and so true!
Me too – how ridiculous is it all really. All we need to do is feel our selves, trust our body and listen closely and clarity and wiser choices will result.
Now that makes it even more crazy Lee. This reminds me of lining up in a queue when you don’t even know what the queue is for.
It is very perceptive of you Susie to note that there are two major things at play: 1) the desire to fit in. Our need for belonging and to be accepted by others is so strong we will abuse ourselves and go against our true nature.
2) The need for a way to check out. In the desire to escape from the consequences of our choices we can justify anything to avoid responsibility.
The social encouragement can sometimes be almost a social demand. It is worth congratulating anyone who has chosen to eliminate behaviours that aren’t self-loving.
‘Isn’t it fascinating how so many people use alcohol, cigarettes and drugs as forms of distraction when they taste so vile?’ Yes Susie, very fascinating. In fact, it seems very fitting and honest for these substances to be so vile as it reflects the poison and the energy we are saying yes to at the expense of our inner-love.
Great examples in your list of eating and drinking of common substances Kevin. It is amazing how we keep ignoring our body signals and continue to kid and harm ourselves to believe something is really tasty and ‘doing us good’. Mega businesses have been built on these poor choices that undermine our health in the long term.
“….so once again through perseverance I acquired the taste”.
I agree Stephanie, mega businesses have been built on things that are not actually good for us.
Then mega businesses like health kicks etc are also built on trying to ‘fix us’ once we have consumed all these things that are not good for us, but often it leaves out looking at why we make those choices to begin with.
Agree Stephanie and Kristy, it is such an absurd cycle of mega businesses promoting things that make us sick and then looking for a fix. We all know that how we live is making us sick, abusive, violent and miserable, but to look at why we are making those choices in the first place we have to accept the absolute fact that we live in a world of energy and that everything is energy first and that we are responsible for the energy we are choosing.
And that is the key isn’t it Kristy, to look at why we are making choices that are so obviously not loving. Once we can identify them we can start to make different choices again especially when we feel into what led us to behave in the way we did, and the body will respond again and let us know where we are at, so awesome.
Thank you Kevin, its so true, how often do we have to work hard to overcome all our body’s natural warning signs in order to acquire a taste for something that harms us? I often used to think that liking the taste of blue cheese, whisky wine and beer, smoking and other more illegal pursuits were all a sign of being grown up! It simply exposes that what we consider to be grown up, sophisticated and refined is simply a big excuse to indulge and harm ourselves. With enormous thanks to the perpetual support and inspiration of Serge Benhayon, his family, all the Universal Medicine practitioners and the student body, I too have come to realise that growing up actually means taking responsibility, treating myself with the utmost respect and care, nurturing my body and my health, committing to life and working hard. Truly growing up is not about fitting in but being a positive, healthy, responsible role model who feels great and loves life. No vices, acquired tastes or sophistication necessary!
“It simply exposes that what we consider to be grown up, sophisticated and refined is simply a big excuse to indulge and harm ourselves.” This really sums up what we as society consider to be grown up and mature adults…but where is the sense in this, I mean really?! Who in sane mind would consciously make a choice to set out on a projectory to harm themselves for the rest of their life…if we were totally honest with ourselves from the beginning – very few.
‘It simply exposes that what we consider to be grown up, sophisticated and refined is simply a big excuse to indulge and harm ourselves. ‘ Yes Rowena, this really stood out for me too. Where have we gotten the image of adulthood and why does it look the way it does? It’s like responsibility has been twisted to tick the temporal boxes of life, like paying the bills and holding down a job but not the true sense of responsibility. The indulgence and comfort of adult life has always been attractive to me but never felt satisfying, rewarding or made any sense! Now I’m starting to understand true responsibility in how I live consistently, feeling what is there, not imposing my opinions on people and living in a way the considers the All.
Great point Rachel. So called sophistication, seriousness, intelligence and indulgence are part of this ‘adult picture’ and yet have absolutely nothing to do with responsibility.
We trade our childhood irresponsibility for a false version of responsibility that looks apparently more ‘mature’ than when we were younger, but lacks any evolution when it comes to real responsibility and the reflection we provide for others.
Like you, Kevin, I was a great and stubborn perseverer of over-riding my taste buds to fit in. And like you I say, “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”. A way that has lead me to listen to my taste buds instead of over-riding them and by doing so (along with aspects of this way) my life is so much richer, self-empowered and lighter by many kilograms.
A very relatable and inspiring blog Kevin. The greatest gift is to realise we always have a choice – to live from love or not from love and the body, as a marker of all truth, will reflect what our choices are.
“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”.
Yes and what an awesome realisation that is : ” “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”. – Anyone can realise that and make the changes accordingly, just as Kevin has shared in his awesome and honest blog. It is just a matter of choice …
This is amazing Kevin; you just say it how it is. Reading I could remember all those different tastes and the same feelings. Red wine tasting like vinegar (yuk), coffee really bitter and making my body feel so wired … but it was what everyone did! Smoking as well I hated but carried on and persevered with this. Why do we override what we feel and carry on doing things that do not feel great but actually taste and make us feel like crap? The one thing that really stands out writing this is self-love (or lack of it!). If we don’t truly and deeply love ourselves this leaves gaps and spaces to be filled with everything that is not love … cigarettes, wine cheese etc to name a few.
Thank you Kevin for sharing your journey with those habits and patterns we can all get so lost in and influenced by, particularly the ones that draw us in to maintain a feeling of ‘fitting in’ with the crowd. The one that rings the loudest for me is from a very young age being told to ‘eat this’ or ‘drink this’ its good for you!!! Realising now my amazing body is the best guidance and indicator of what is or what is not right for me to consume amongst the many other amazing truths its shares.
This is such a great reminder that the only way to go is to listen and keep listening to your body, treat it as your closest, most intimate friend and act on its wise counsel. Beautiful Kevin, thank you.
Love this Jane – ‘treat it (the body) as your closest, most intimate friend and act on its wise counsel.’
Wow Kevin I can really relate to this and the acquired tastes I did not like but got used to and in some form or other acquired. From slowly changing my diet also and the way i do things my life has become so much more loving, my digestion and body feels so much more beautiful to be in and in connection with myself . The emotional roller coaster of life really can change and loving consistency of being simple is beautiful and possible for us all. Thank you a great blog.
It is a big step to include in ‘taste’ how we feel after imbibing something but it is THE key step in improving our life.
Kevin, I really enjoyed reading your blog. I had not considered fully before that I might have or still am choosing to eat certain foods or maybe even certain amounts or at certain times just to fit in or be cool, yet having read your blog this is now so obvious and is something I shall definitely pay more attention to.
Thanks for your great blog Kevin. You are so right – the idea of an ‘acquired taste’ is utterly ridiculous! If the body doesn’t like it then it doesn’t like it. I do remember acquiring a taste for Stilton cheese which my English husband loved and prized, and also acquired the taste a cup of tea which initially I couldn’t stand the taste of. When I was little my mother, normally a very mild and loving woman would make me drink a glass of milk. I said I couldn’t so she dosed it up with Milo ( kind of chocolatey grains that dissolved) but even then it was well nigh impossible for me to swallow. With the things like wine and cheese it was all linked with the idea of sophistication, which you so well point out, which configures with the idea being accepted by one’s peers. As you say, thank Heavens for Serge Benhayon who led us back to the body.
I am smiling at your Milo recollection Lyndy. The same story played out in my home when I was a child. My grandmother was terrified of what would happen to me because I didn’t drink milk. When the family made me drink it I would throw up immediately. Ah! Then someone lit on the genius idea of chocolate flavouring – doubly hilarious because it was sold as a “health food”. Somehow the sweetness kept the milk in my stomach.
And we all learned to ignore the chronic sinus and asthma that did not go away until I stopped all dairy as an adult.
Ah yes Kevin, I have to agree, most poison actually tastes like poison. With alcohol and cigarettes, I also found that I had to persist, yet persist I did, with the taste, the nausea and the instant headaches, with debilitating hangovers and embarrassing episodes; even with all these negatives I was dedicated to fitting in, being liked and doing what I thought was cool. Total and utter craziness. Blowing smoke out of your body is absolutely crazy town. Oh how we are so prepared to go all the way when the name of the game is self destruction and yet with self responsibility we will find any excuse to not commit.
This is huge what you are sharing here Kevin as many men your age are going through a mid life crisis and a reality check on their lifestyle, weight, health and relationships. Yet you are here declaring to the world that you have never felt so good in your life! Im feeling you need to be presenting this more to men. : )
Marcia isn’t it awesome to read this and I can confirm that Kevin has seriously changed his life around and it is an Absolute Joy having such and inspiring, caring, sensitive and loving man in my life. Far from when I first meet him and was as tough as old boots and so far from living a vital and abundant life that he is living today. The complete opposite to what the mid life crisis portrays!
Kevin McHardy – You are a legend! “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?” A beautiful honest and sensible question.
Agreed Marcia, this question and one’s like it should be in every medical text book there is. So simply yet can transform the current state of our health system.
Yes super awesome question and one for all to ponder upon deeply …
Legend is spot on Marcia, these two questions are great ones to be asking ourselves and to actually realise that this is going on in the first place is such a revelation. This is why Universal Medicine has been so supportive in presenting simply yet loving and honest ways to be with ourselves and getting to understand the real reason why we live in such disregard.
Wow what a brilliant article Kevin, I loved reading this and can relate to it so much. I used to really dislike the taste of alcohol and used to have to have chocolate with it to take away the nasty taste, reading your article makes me realise just how much we override our bodies, it is the ‘normal’ thing to do. I can also relate to, ‘some though were about learning to like something because you were told it was good for you’, I used to follow many health food fads, like eating lots of ghee, drinking bentonite clay and many more – these all tasted foul to me, but I had been told they were really good for my body, so I persisted, now I love to listen to my body and feel sooo much better as a result.
That is a really good point Rebecca .. in listening to our bodies as even things we ‘think’ are healthy or right for us are not. I bought some d3 vitamins a while ago after going to the dentist and they are sitting in the cupboard unopened because my body is going nope to them. I think I should listen to my body a lot more!
Rebecca so many people hate the taste of alcohol, which is why there is such an array of flavoured alcohol, now coined ‘alcopops’. Alcohol contains ethanol, which is also found in petrol. It might be more honest if we labelled drinks’ flavoured pertol’ and it makes me understand the old term of asking someone what they want to drink, which is ‘what’s your poison?’
Ethanol is used to wipe down benches in laboratories where bacteria are cultured. It kills them, very effectively too.
Very few bacterium can resist it.
So how are our cells any different?
Exactly Rachel! Ethanol is a substance that kills cells that it comes into contact with.. and we drink it?? Its also used in car petrol, say what?
Thank you, Kevin, for an honest review of your past choices around food and alcohol. The extent to which we override the communication from our sensitive bodies varies from person to person, but for each of us it feels amazing to consciously start making more loving choices and prevent the constant tension, pain or discomfort that can eventually create illness and disease.
It is true Janet, it does feel amazing and that supports when the old behaviours come nagging. Now, if I get an inkling of a ‘oooo I fancy xyz’ and I know it makes me feel sick, I will have the smarts to ask how I got to a space where that was even considered attractive. Amazing is not worth walking away from.
Relate to all of that Kev – brilliant point well made – whisky, coffee are just not yummy! Meanwhile honouring that and not put them in our bodies IS making our bodies feel yummy! awesome.
Kevin I love your honesty in this blog. It is so common for people to pick up habits purely because they want to fit in or look good. Yes our bodies scream at us but yet we carry on. I can feel your relief in dropping these things and letting yourself truly feel what is right for you. No more highs and lows and no more hangovers!
It is quite sad to feel into that we do these things to ‘fit in’ with our peers. And then persevere and not only that, maybe even encourage others to go down the same road. And it is so astonishing that even though the body screams and yells at us, we ignore it and suffer all kinds of unwellness just to keep doing something we know is hurting us deeply… maybe we ‘think’ this hurt is more bearable than the one we try to numb with these substances…
“But still I persevered until I acquired the taste.” Fascinating that we strive to acquire the taste of things that we know are not good for us and we don’t even like at first taste. It is as if we are taking a gamble with our health and life because we know that we shouldn’t really be here in our physical body and are trying to escape. We have to choose to live life to the full and not try to escape or dull ourselves to know who we truly are.
And it is so interesting to realize how obviously certain foods and behaviours are nothing but harming to ourselves, once we take them out of our diet or stop living like that.
For example: I believed to be vital and healthy, but every other month had a light cold and was always tired in the mornings. Once I stopped eating gluten and dairy, both symptoms dissappered.
Isn’t it awesome how quick the body responds when we listen to it and make some changes? Love our bodies 🙂
Mary I love this line “Fascinating that we strive to acquire the taste of things that we know are not good for us and we don’t even like at first taste. ” This to me is a definition of Psychological ill health, a separation from self that allows harm to self and others.
Ha! That brings back memories – age 17, with a boyfriend who smoked, sitting outside on my parent’s front step, trying to be cool and like cigarettes – awful taste but I persevered and once addicted, it was ten years before I could stop. Same with Alcohol, I didn’t like it at first, but eventually got used to the taste of wine, gin, rum, and, despite the headache and vomiting, would persevere – somehow I’d forget it made me sick last time. I love not having hangovers and my lungs love breathing clean, fresh air. Amazing how we abuse our bodies in this way!
What comes across is how strong this urge to persevere is, especially with something like cigarette smoking and alcohol. What you have written Carmel has reminded me of how horrible things taste and yet we still try as hard as we can to consume these items. I have never come across one person who has said they enjoyed the taste of their first cigarette.
I remember being offered my first ‘official’ cigarette on my 16th birthday, from my family as it was now legal to smoke… I had smoked secretly way before then and of course they knew; I remember distinctly how weird it felt to be given a cigarette that morning after breakfast…
So great to hear your amazing success regarding yourself Kevin and “no mid-life crises apparent”! The choices to turn around our lives are simple, but not always easy to apply, it does help (and may be crucial) to have a guiding light like Serge Benhayon and meanwhile many others to show the way.
“No mid-life crises apparent”. No sight of a condition that is so common and seen as something that simply happens to us sometimes around our forties. That is a miracle in itself.
When you take a moment to consider what a mid life crisis actually is then you realise that it’s moment in our lives when all of the stuff that we have previously filled our lives with is no longer working. What’s unfortunate about many of us who experience mid-life crises is that we simply change the things that we’re filling our life up with. We switch to things like motorbikes, hobbies and lovers, seemingly failing to recognise that in truth we are the only things that we can ever truly fill ourselves up with, our true and real selves.
Before I met Serge Benhayon there was a gradual shift towards looking after myself better. I was cutting down on drinking, had stopped smoking and was eating more healthily. The problem was I still wasn’t listening to my body and was dependant on what the outside world was telling me. Without Serge Benahyon’s guiding light I may well have made more shifts but there is now way my life would have changed to the way it has today.
“Why are we given such sensitive taste buds if we are to totally overrididing what they are telling us…?”
I love this question Kevin! And it is incredible how sensitive our taste buds are if we stop numbing them with all sorts of strong flavours and the amazing variety we are then able to taste again.
This is so true Judith, ‘it is incredible how sensitive our taste buds are if we stop numbing them with all sorts of strong flavours and the amazing variety we are then able to taste again.’ I have found this, since stopping eating dairy, gluten and sugar, my body feels great, now if I have any sugar in any form I get a headache and find it so sweet that I do not like the taste, it shows me how much I used to override my taste buds and convince myself that I liked these things despite what my body was saying.
Yes I so relate Rebecca, I find the same things too, and now when I think to what I used to eat and what was in that food -oh my, I can only wonder at that I did that for quite a long time.. Thankfully no more for a very long time now and feeling absolutely awesome.
I have this experience as well and not only has it surprised me how much we can taste and how naturally tasty fresh food is, it has shown me what an onslaught salt and sugar and artificial flavourings are to our natural senses. Just like our ears desensitise to constant noise, our nose to constant bad smells, so too do our tastebuds desensitise enormously.
Me too Katie, and I find now if I have something that has been sweetened with something, it is so sweet I don’t like it at all…
We not only have amazing taste buds we have amazing bodies – always telling us what is good for us or not. If you are prepared to ask your body it will always tell you. It is the greatest intelligence we have yet the most unused one. Such a shame we have something that is so incredible that so often gets overlooked. If we referred to our bodies instead of the thousands of books on this or that we would be a far healthier race of people.
Hear, hear Laura – we are taught from a very young age to look for answers outside of ourselves yet the truth is that we have all the answers within.
So true if we stop numbing, dulling down and overriding not just our taste buds but our bodies to the bountiful supply of self loving choices, amazingly and quite quickly more is revealed to us, bringing more clarity and heightening our senses to another level.
Absoultely Judith: “if we stop numbing them with all sorts of strong flavours and the amazing variety we are then able to taste again.” I used to use salt in every meal and without it I did not like the taste at all. I also observed that I needed more and more salt to make it taste good. I thought the taste would ‘come out’ more with salt. Yet over the last couple of years I gradually stopped eating salt because I felt it was not so healthy to do and even a little addictive! Now I find that the simplest meals are full of flavour and I actually taste more in the foods, and I realise the taste really ‘comes out’ now with out the salt.
After giving up sugar I couldn’t believe how sweet some vegetables like peas or carrots began to taste. How great that the taste buds can recover from the abuse I gave them, and appreciate the flavour of fresh foods.
I agree Judith – if we were to visit the hospital and take out the lungs of a cigarette or cigar smoker, would the lungs look like something that has enjoyed years of smoking? And when you take out the liver of a person who drinks scotch and whiskey and alcohol in general, will it look like it’s had a great time, or will it look like it has had to kill itself simply to process the drink we champion as giving us the good time, the let go, the buzz, taking the edge off life.
I also have a list of fighting the signals from the body of the burning in the throat from alcohol and the hacking from the smoke in the lungs. These and all of the other passages of life into the adult world that we override what the body is screaming at us to not do… we just push through and override. I can also thank Serge Benhayon and family for showing there is a way back to where we started and has always been just a breath away this whole time.
…. counting down my own breaths to revealing my own awesomeness Steve Matson – and the more I continue to not override my body the more I appreciate myself for listening.
I love that Sandra – ‘counting down my own breath to revealing my own awesomeness’! Beautifully expressed indeed.
Have to say it again – just love that expression: “‘…counting down my own breath to revealing my own awesomeness’!” I just re-read that all and I really love this sentence, maybe I will make a poste it note to remind myself more regularly of this…
Me too Steve, we have this strange concept that growing up means pushing through, over-riding, suppressing who we really are. And then we meet Serge Benhayon, a man who enables us to get “back to where we started” and who presents us with a whole new paradigm on what growing up truly means, embarking on the path of returning more and more to who we truly are, becoming more sensitive, more delicate, more responsive to our bodies and the world around us. A long way from the numbing and dumbing down that is the cultural norm.
Great comment Rowena….its crazy how over-riding what our bodies are telling us , and numbing ourselves when our bodies feel everything anyway, is considered being a mature adult: where is the intelligence in that?!
It is incredible what we can override to continue to eat or drink something that isn’t good for us. Remember eating ice cream so fast you get that “frozen pain” in the head? But you still want to keep eating it! I wonder what would happen if we used the ability to override our pain to empower ourselves to override the cravings for things we know aren’t good for us!
Kevin I love your frankness. The change in you and your lifestyle is remarkable and very inspiring.
Agreed Rachel the proof is in the Kevin – absolutely remarkable.
I love that sentence – ‘the proof is in the Kevin’ – and not in the ‘pudding’ any more at all!
So true Laura, The change in Kevin, particularly in the last few years is remarkable. Having known him for 10 years and observed his stubbornness, something significant has shifted recently and his gorgeous tender side is blooming for all of us to be blessed by. Thanks Kevin you are a joy to be with.
That is very true, I have noticed the changes in Kevin too, and he has dropped the guard. I have a feeling to be friend with him, even we don’t know each other very close. He really feels like a brother to me.
I enjoyed that too, there is a refreshing honesty in how Kevin writes. I related to this line – “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.”. That was so true for me as well. Alcohol and ciggies had their hold on me for such a long long long time and I felt imprisoned by them as well. It was only when I built up the love that there was no room for them any more and by doing it this way, the grip is not there at all. I feel completely free from them.
That was the line that stopped me in my tracks too Sarah. I knew the chocolate I was eating was terrible for my skin. I ended up with adult acne having had very clear skin as a teenager. It was threatening my teeth (yes…I work as a dentist!!). It also played havoc with my digestion and surely placed me at risk of diabetes.
What would have stopped me on this trajectory without Universal Medicine?
I reckon it would have been diabetes….but even then, seeing how people with diabetes struggle…..I do wonder.
Rachel there are so many things that I too no longer consume after having Universal Medicine support me to see what these foods or drinks are actually doing to us. Or more to the point, the truth about why we are choosing to consume them in the first place.
It is awful to consider that for most of us it takes a catastrophe to stop. Even then, with medical procedures and medications in the offing, many people still find it hard to stop. I remember my neighbour who had a severe heart attack when I was a child – he loved his cigars and his pipe, and it was only after a quadruple bypass that he could let them go…years of warnings by his GP unheeded.
He passed away years ago, but I remember him as both a dear man and a great lesson in how much harm we do when we do not heed our body or the wise words of a caring doctor.
I agree Vicky – Attending my first presentation by Serge Benhayon in 2008, I actually felt the truth resonating within my body of how various foods harm – this was the end of constant dieting to loose weight and feel better about myself.
For example by making different choices to stop eating gluten and then dairy – it felt awful in my body when re-introducing them – instant bloating and sinus reaction!
Yearning for various foods began to simply ‘drop away’ as my body became clearer, in truth there was nothing to give up only to bring more loving choices and deeper care for myself, My quality of wellbeing and body flexibility changed beyond measure, without trying to diet or ‘be good’ with the unexpected bonus of excess weight melted away and has remained constant to this day.
Yeah great point Rachel, when we don’t care for ourselves there really isn’t anything that will stop us, how many people smoke who have cancer, not because they are stupid – usually very intelligent people but because they fundamentally don’t feel the love for themselves that is a prerequisite for truly loving ourselves.
Yeah I like that Sarah ‘no more room for them’ I shared that with a friend of mine who recently stopped eating gluten and was marvelling at how much better she felt, and how she didn’t miss gluten products I concurred as I really don’t miss that sort of food – though a chocolate eclair would always turn my head : ) – but even when I want something the more I love myself the less I can harm myself, it just doesn’t add up.
Great you highlighted that line Sarah and it is true, I also would like to say I would have stopped on my own accord with eating things that are not good for me but probably wouldn’t have done it without the support of the teachings presented by Serge Benhayon because I just did not come up with loving myself and building a relationship with myself by myself. That is the beauty though of inspiration and true support we can all offer each other by living in a loving way ourselves.
This is what is beautiful for many of us who have previously had an addiction of one sort or another Sarah is that we are completely free of them now. We are not ‘recovering addicts’ like others call themselves we have totally moved through that phase and could think of nothing worse then taking a drug or drinking etc. This is quite miraculous and it is thanks to Universal Medicine who presented on the principles of self love and self care key elements of letting go of abusive behaviours.
The same was true for me too Sarah, as much as I wanted to and tried to stop smoking it never lasted long dispite all the various methods I attempted. I did manage to reduce my intake significantly but the moment a stressful event happened I would be back reaching for a cigarette. when I came across Universal Medicine I had not been smoking for around 18 months and the idea of wanting a cigarette was long gone but it was not until a stressful event arose a couple of years later when the thought that a cigarette would help popped into my mind. It was then that I realised I had built a foundation of love that was so much greater than the need for a cigarette. There was nothing in me that wanted to follow through from that thought. Had it not been for Universal Medicine I believe that, in that moment, I would have been straight down to the garage to buy a packet of cigarettes and been back imprisoned by their pull.
I love that too Kevin and Rachel, one by one realising that just perseverance was what makes us like stuff our bodies inherently know is not good at all. I can so relate to the bit by bit letting go of things and when I try something nowadays, for example something sweetened with honey or syrup, it is sooooooo sweet I can actually not eat it at all, same with salt etc too. Love to just taste how things taste naturally these days …
Yes I agree too Rachel, seeing Kevin make changes in himself over the years is the real inspiration.
Absolute awesome exposure on what we are doing to ourselves by consuming things we naturally don’t enjoy ~ our taste buds are so sensitive and so beautiful, they should be honoured.
Yet another part of our anatomy that we ignore and disregard… but what a gift on offer if we listened to our taste buds! If the initial impulse from our taste buds was yuk to something, how easy it would be to not eat or drink it again because once the offending substance gets past them our body cops it! There are also many things that are yummy to our taste buds which are not good for us, so we rely on our body to tell us the truth… sometimes the truth can be hard to bear, speaking from my own experience of giving up chocolate!
Your comment prompted me to think about how we, as parents, would go to great lengths to coax our toddlers and young children to eat foods that they clearly did not like – is it possible that this could have contributed to their over-riding their natural senses?
I agree Tamara the way we coax children has to show them it is ok to override what they feel to eat. If we go by the book of what everyone should be eating you would think everyone would be a lot healthier. The more I listen to my body the less I listen to the current thinking on food and health as it gives our innate wisdom over to knowledge.
This is a great point Tamara. We encourage the overriding from a very early age.
What a great point Tamara if a child clearly doesn’t like something and we say its ‘good’ for you eat it, what message are we giving them – certainly one of don’t listen to your body or trust your own feelings!
Exactly nothing acquired just everything overridden! I never liked the taste of alcohol I never cared what I was drinking, couldn’t tell the difference between wines the only purpose for me was to be tipsy or drunk. Much more honest than pretending that it was a big taste sensation!
Vanessa I can relate to that too, I never liked alcohol and I remember the first time I had it I was gagging, forcing it down to just fit in with friends. I hated the smell and how it made me feel. But like Susan said you do something enough times and then you get use to it.
Yes and the more we honour them and truly listen to their message, the more refined the things become we actually allow into our bodies.
So true, and the more things are refined the more prescious things become in our sensitivity to the everything
That’s so true Karina, when we take sugar from our diets we start to appreciate just how naturally sweet other foods such as butternut squash and carrots are for example which is just not possible when our tastebuds are numb from refined sugars.
How come we moved away from honouring ourselves and the messages our bodies so gracefully offer?
Very true but it’s interesting how the body works, if you consume anything enough it actually stops recognising it as a poison and in lots of cases can trick you into thinking that you ‘love’ these damaging substances. When I don’t have chocolate or sugar for a long period and then I go to eat it again my body reacts really badly but if I push through, within a day, I am actually craving sugar again, crazy.
Yes Sarah, we get sucked in by our taste buds and the messages our body is sending don’t have a hope of reaching us…. and we don’t want them to.
True Sarah. I know ‘chocoholics’ that are actually allergic to chocolate!? It’s crazy the way we can lie to ourselves and create a story that is so far away from our truth.
Yes they are so beautiful, and since having let go of many foods and flavourings that truly did not serve me, I am tasting the food now in its original flavour and it’s awesome, so yummy and so delicate most of the times too.
Yes Natasha and there are so many other things in life that we do and do not enjoy even down to the way we live. We persevere and push on through life in a way that is fundamentally hurting us and is void of joy. When we start to appreciate and honour our sensitivity the way we live starts to change.
Beautiful said, Natasha, let’s honour and appreciate our ‘taste buddies’ who are so aligned to the rest of our body, and what a divine reflection, they are our bodyguards who decide what is allowed to enter and what should stay out the door.
Thank you Kevin, this is an amazing topic to write about. Lots of the things that we consume and are not healthy for us do indeed not taste well. I can remember trying a cup of coffee and actually being a bit disappointed that it tasted not as good as it smelled! The same with wine and beer, it just does not taste good. I love the question you pose that if it tastes horrible does it then not also mean that it is not good for us? I know great truths are found in simplicity and common sense.
Lieke I totally agree. Great truths are found in simplicity and common sense. I love returning to this revelation.
Yes, I love this sentence too, it is very true. Great truths are found in simplicity and common sense. No need for searching far and wide.
Yes, often it is right in front of us and we can’t see it, it’s a bit like not seeing the forest for the trees…
Lieke and Kathryn I agree as well.
Gone are the old days when as a child when you were ill we would be given medicine that tasted real bad and were told it tastes bad ‘but it is good for you’.
If you have ever taken your dog to a vet… the first time is OK… but it will always remember the smell and the next time you have to drag or carry them in. Today medicines for children are flavoured and sweetened… how many things that are truly not good for us, have also been mutton dressed as lamb? Energy drinks, alcohol pops and junk food come to mind to fool our senses.
Great point Steve, we have learned how to trick ourselves and this starts with flavoring and sweetening everything we give our kids. We raise kids in the consciousness of artificially altered flavors and rob them of their capacity to feel from their body what is actually good for them. And this not only with food, any kind of distraction we offer them is marking their taste of life.
This is so true Rachel…so many foods and drinks are full of sugar and or salt to make them stimulating, and addictive, so people crave that ‘upper’ rather than discerning if the food is actually good for them – a very clever trick by food manufacturers to boost sales but most definitely at the detriment of our bodies which get over-ridden or ignored – until an illness makes us stop.
I agree Paula, part of the corruption to make products addictive and so increase sales.
Indeed Steve and Rachel if we override these messages from our body what else we will accept and override – life becomes an inevitable slippery slope – living life from the outside in.
Yes, Lucinda, and the irony is we are conditioned to believe that by ‘sweetening’ things we are improving life but in fact we are enhancing the slippery slope.
So true, and how often are children given something sweet to make something ‘better’ … I remember when I was a child, we received the polio vaccine on a whole sugar lump…
So true Lucinda, if we override the messages from our body, life does indeed become a slippery slope and we reach for more and more “uppers” to mask the discomfort of our downward trajectory.
Reading this I realise how old the pattern of overriding what I feel in my body is. I would have been about 6 or 7 the first time I tried smoking – it felt horrible in my body yet I had more than one puff. I remember really trying to breath in the smoke deeply and how this action went against everything my body wanted to do. So the pattern was there all this time ago and had intensified over time. Before the smoking when I was much younger I used to go under the house and eat dirt. Now I look back on this and I realise how I knew exactly what to do to my body to avoid feeling great in my own skin, and I have know this from a young age.
It’s no wonder we have become so used to all of this stimulation, given the extraordinary amount of sugar and salt that most foods are laden with. When this becomes the normal, what is next? Well, next we have the insane food trends to stimulate our senses on a new extreme level, like freakshakes, chocolate pizzas and donut hamburgers to name a few. One asks, then what???
This is true Kylie. Lifestyle related illness and disease are killing us, yet en masse we continue to say yes to the gallon size soft drinks at McDonalds in America and the donut hamburgers as you have mentioned. There are other behaviours that have already escalated beyond redicilous including the existence and impact of cyber abuse and the exposure of pornography especially in our youth – some film clips now are out of control extreamly violent, twisted and or sexual. When we create a society that is constantly focused on ‘bettering’ itself, well this is what we end up with.
Great point Kylie, I’ve heard of milkshakes topped with two donuts etc and can’t quite believe people order them and then actually consume them……
Great question Kylie, all it does is reflect our desperate need for stimulation because we have lost touch with who we really are and how gorgeous we feel inside. The drive for more extreme or bizarre flavours/combinations is also echoed in other behaviours like extreme sports and sexual preferences, driven by a part of ourselves that seems insatiable. I wonder what is going to happen when we have exhausted all the possible computations we can think of?
What comes up for me Kylie when reading your comment, is how removed most producers of food products have become from the true purpose of food and the people it is intended to serve and nourish. The tragedy of this is globally devastating.
Love that Rachel….”….not only with food, any kind of distraction we offer them is marking their taste of life” – the taste of life is a life that’s uniquely peppered with one’s own seasoning (love) and not the flavouring of another’s.
Absolutely Rachel. This relationship with sugar just develops as we get older; many of my friends at school eat tons and tons of sugar during breaks and lunchtimes, some having to take their ‘5 A Day’ of chocolate bars!
Well said, Rachel. From over sweetened food, to computer games and excessive TV we are offering much distraction that is marking children’s taste for life. The type of choices children will make thereafter can only be made from a state of numbness and, or over stimulation. This does rob children of the capacity of feeling from their body what is actually good for them.
It would be challenging to bring up a child on zero sugar, and although it would be most naturally accepted in the body of the child we need to look at why we feel the need to give children excessive amounts of sugar. Most parents I have spoken to about this say they don’t enjoy dealing with the aftermath of behaviours there children slip into when they eat too much sugar, yet as a society it appears we promote children having sugar willy nilly just because it is the ‘done’ thing at birthday parties etc. – this has been my observation anyway.
My children had no sugar in their diets until they went to school, and so for them that was normal, at school they wanted to have similar ‘foods’ to other children. The pressure from peers and not wanting to stand out as being different can be a real challenge.
Not just children, this goes for adults too – in all areas including alcohol, smoking, betting and gambling and all the different intense forms of distractions that we can devise to not feel and connect to who we truly are …
Children (and adults) are bombarded with a form of hyper-reality…flavour saturated foods with flavour enhancers, cartoons and films colour graded to be an order “brighter than reality, super loud TV shows high hyped up performers. The list could be endless of things we have made that make the simplicity of real life seem rather drab by comparison. Our “taste for life ” becomes distorted, unsatisfiable by common, nutritious fare.
It takes something special to stop fulfilling the cravings, let our senses come back to themselves. Out eyes, ears and tastebuds rediscover the deliciousness of simplicity.
Such a silly thing to do actually and leaves me with the question ‘Why?’. Why would we make things that are naturally telling us that they should not be eaten by their bad taste, taste good so as to we can eat things that are not good for us?? Does not make sense really…
Great point Steve, not only do we have to reconnect to what our taste buds are actually saying but we also have the challenge of identifying what may taste, sound or seem ‘good’ for us but is not really “good” for us. Health Food products are a great example of this, they can be packaged green and natural with the words organic on them but in truth they are actually hard to digest and heavily processed, they just look better.
Well said Sarah, going for the better is the biggest downfall of humanity. We are made to belief we have to better ourselves constantly, but what we never discern is the energy we choose to live in. It is energy first and not the better or less processed food, the wooden toy or the handmade clothes, there is no way of life that is true if it is not discerning the energy we live in and our Soulful origins.
I love the way you expand this Rachel, to include those items that people who are into “natural” and “organic” living choose to buy, because they look better, do us good, or have more integrity, are made of natural materials, or not mass produced. This is not true if it comes with an energy of arrogance, separation, and worst of all — a superiority and mission. I was one of these, falling for every little suggestion about how I could be healthier and live ecologically, and it is one of the things that is hardest for me to break. But my body tells me it was all to no avail because I was not listening to my taste buds or digestion, and feeling, or financial situation and nothing really change at base level. Clearing all those belief systems is clearing my system, and so I am free to choose from a whole wide range of products.
I love it Rachel this is exactly what it is that we as a humanity need to be more aware of and discern on every level. What we have created and as you so beautiful say – that this constant trying to ‘better’ ourselves is all from looking on the outside and totally disconnected to who we truly are. Lets start bring it back to how we feel inside and how things feel on the outside. To honour what we feel and not be fooled by all the fancy cover up that we are not enough. A loved body is a A Loved Soul.
Beautiful how you expressed this Rachel, it is all about discernment and it starts with us and which energy we have aligned ourselves with first. When we get a true reading on this, then we can truly discern other things around us too.
This is a clarion call to responsibility Rachel. We do love the quick fixes – I speak from experience here. The label with ‘organic’, ‘all natural’, ‘wheat-free’ was something I used to make my choices for me. I would eat things from the Health Food shop, because they were healthy…right?
That they threw my IBS into chaos was something I didn’t pay much heed to until I learned that my body doesn’t read labels! What it does read is energy and to a very refined degree. The burping, bloating, pain and farting are all messages about energy, and I have to laugh with absolute delight, that they are letting us know that which is from soul and that which is not.
Our Soul can work directly with our body. Like the body, it does not read the labels, but straight through them to the true quality of the product, and intent behind its making.
Love it Rachel, our Soul does not read the labels but straight through the energy of the product and our body communicates beautifully and constantly to us in the way a body communicates, with burps, bloating, aches, pains, exhaustion, lack of vitality, etc.
It is so very simple when we live knowing that everything is energy – life is just laid out in front of you and you just walk the path of your Soul.
I agree Rachel – in the world it is always about getting better, achieving another goal. Nobody is really interested in the energy, how the food etc. was produced. We always have to check the energy, otherwise it is harming to our bodies.
Succinctly stated Rachel Andras. Living true rather than living better is the way to re-connect within and return to Love.
Yes Rachel this is a very important belief bubble you are bursting. This need to better ourselves by adhering to all sorts of behaviour that distinguishes us from others only promotes separation and arrogance. Discernment is what we need to thrive for.
So true Rachel M, ‘Our Soul can work directly with our body. Like the body, it does not read the labels, but straight through them to the true quality of the product, and intent behind its making.’ Our body and soul know the energy, intent and quality of food, we have to pay attention and read this when we lovingly buy food to support us.
So true Sarah – the health food industry plays a huge role in influencing the general public as to what is perceived as ‘good for us’.
And they are quite insidious too – advertising something gluten free and dairy free for example, and then it is loaded with sugar or fructose.
Yes Tamara one has to be very discerning as the health food industry, like any industry, is there to make a profit with little regard to the health and wellbeing of the general public.
Health foods are a huge way that we fool ourselves into thinking that the chocolate or pack of cookies we are wolfing down is actually better for us than the one that does not say, “organic” or “free-range”, etc. Yes, not growing our food with nasty chemicals and humanely is a very good thing, but a bar of chocolate is still a bar of chocolate. That it is organic or labelled ‘natural’ does not mean that it does not have just as much sugar as any other.
That we have these labels clearly shows that many of us do want to take care of ourselves, and that we know that something needs to change in the way we produce our food. However, that we put so much faith into a word like ‘organic’ and think that it means that a food that we know is harmful to us is magically better for us, shows that at the same time, we do not want to actually take responsibility for what that change entails.
Yes Naren, I remember being quite shocked reading a packet of sweets that said, sugar free, gluten free, free from this that and the other (I can’t remember all the details now) but it sounded so healthy that for moment I was drawn in to see what they were. I don’t remember now but they were something like jelly babies, packed full of sweeteners (if not sugar) with no goodness whatsoever but the packing was incredibly convincing.
Naren, this is so true, it makes me consider the expensive health stores that we have that are filled almost entirely with raw chocolate and other such treats. Organic, raw, natural etc, yet most definitely not good for our bodies. It is very similar to any supermarket where I now find I only want to shop in about three aisles, and one of these is the vegetable stands.
I agree Naren. The word ‘organic’ does not mean much these days. There is no genuiness, with a lot if not all of these products. I also agree with what many others have shared in that it is not about reading labels but instead being honest and listening to our bodies.
True Stephen G, when I food shop there is the veggie section and one or two other aisle I visit. The rest of the food department is actually no good for your body. The check out girls always laugh and clock all the green I load the conveyor belt with.
Health food manufactures are just waving their left hand in our face telling us to look at their right hand with their packaging. There are none so blind as those that do not see, someone once said… this includes those who do not read the ingredients labels. The other day at the checkout line in a store that has removed all of the impulse buy junk food from the checkouts and replaced them with “healthy” impulse options, I read what was in a NEW No this and No that bar… there was 4 different types of sugar.
Great point Steve. It is all down to choice. Do we read the big print or the little print on labels? Do we override our body’s wisdom and voice or choose to listen to what it is communicating?
I worked for the largest ‘natural’ food supermarket chain in the world and whilst their marketing can talk a good talk, in reality the food is chock full of sugar – even the in-house handmade soup has sugar in it. And yet if you ask any of the people shopping in there why they are willing to spend quite a bit more on their grocery bill than in a mainstream supermarket, they will answer that it’s healthier. Processed food is processed food whether it has ‘organic’, ‘natural’, ‘raw’ etc. label or not. I used to eat all that, thinking I was making better choices, but these days I rarely buy anything with an ingredients list!
It’s true Steve, it comes down to us taking responsibility to read the ingredients labels and not just take for granted that a “health food” is infact healthy, as the manufacturer would want us to believe.
Yes, it’s the new ‘junk food’. People are wising and wanting ‘healthier options’… but some of these new ‘healthy options’, are just ‘junk food’ dressed up… and are even sneaker evils if you ask me, because often people think they are actually having something supportive for their body, but the foods can be equally as stimulating, and laden with sugar etc.
Lucy, thats such a valid point, even the most healthiest labelled food from the suppliers with the great reputation are almost always selling a product that has been altered far away from what is natural. A real health food store is a greengrocer or a fish market. Food from scratch is the easy way to ensure we know what is on our plate.
We are fooled about so much, aren’t we? But then if we didn’t choose to listen to the truth of what our bodies were communicating in the first place we couldn’t be so “hoodwinked’. Once we disconnect and override what we know, we are on the slippery slope and are a willing participant in being deceived.
We absolutely need to just learn to look at the ingredients on the label and make the choice of those ingredients are what suit and are supportive for our body. As you say Katie and Sarah the focus on the packaging does make foods spears healthy when the completely are not. So it is is the consumer that needs to take the responsibility for what we choose to buy that will eventually go into our bodies.
Yes i just commented on that too, or it has syrup and fructose.
I know what you mean Sarah, with the explosion of ‘health’ foods in the supermarkets people want to be seen to be eating healthily and want to eat healthily but get led astray by marketing. Nutritionally whilst some of the ‘health’ foods may be better than the alternatives to call them ‘health’ foods is very misleading.
This is so true James – it is like anything that has any slight possibility of being popular and ‘trending’ then there is a quick £$£ to be made and this is the whole focus. It has become the latest fad to become super healthy with eating and the products that you can buy that seem healthy and are disguised as good for you are simply the same old things just with a re-invented twist. Just the other day I had some chocolate samples in for work which had all these ‘health benefits’ now known as ‘super foods’ in the chocolate but ultimately it is chocolate.
Yes James, marketing of ‘healthy’ foods has a lot to answer for and is as you say very misleading. You only have to read the fine print on so called ‘healthy’ or ‘super food’ packaging to see that sugar or salt are often amongst the main ingredients.
I absolutely agree James about the way the public is often mislead about so called “health foods”; the way when gluten, for example, is removed from a particular food and then lots of sugar and other additives are added to make it taste “nice”, simply to get on the gluten free band wagon. Sometime back I walked into a health food shop and was puzzled to see that nearly everything in their takeaway food cabinet appeared to be brown. On closer inspection I was horrified to see that there was chocolate in every cake and biscuit – where’s the health in that?
Great point Sarah – what may taste, sound or be marketed as “good” for us is so often not the case. I find it is always best to trust how my body responds, rather than what I am told by another or read on a package.
And are much more expensive – marketing dresses food up as ‘good for you’ with no intention of bringing truth to the table.
I have noticed this Katie, I was in the supermarket the other day and happened to look at the ingredients of a soup, it has a list of about 30 ingredients including salt and sugar, yet were I make the same soup myself I would need only 4 or 5 ingredients. It really highlighted again how much simpler it is when we make our food from scratch and have control over what we consume. Moreover our tastebuds get used to this simplicity and have less need and craving for the salt and sweetness.
This is spot on Sarah and is such a reality for so many. I run a deli and sell cold pressed juices and the amount of green juices that are sold is extremely high. Some are full of fruit sugars and others as you say are actually hard to digest and heavily processed. With the whole ‘movement’ of being healthy people can loose all perspective and just go with what is ‘trending’ with out discerning it for themselves and feeling it in their own bodies. To feel what is working with it to be light, vital and alive or heavy, sluggish and dense. We are the only ones that can feel this, not some ‘trending movement’.
What I find confusing and misleading is how many different words and descriptions the manufacturers can come up with to disguise sugar within a product. It can be given many different fancy titles but at the end of the day it’s still sugar and has the same effect on the body.
Yes Stephen G, I prepare my food each day and I must say I eat amazingly every night. I’m not missing out on flavours everyone else is. The food I eat and cook myself is absolutely healthy and I have a body that is able to absorb all nutrients.
I agree Sarah and they may say refined sugar free but are packed with other types of sugar so its no different. A lot of ‘health foods’ are really not very healthy at all.
Yes we get seduced by smell often, when we know well before the smell whether we should eat something. Take fresh baked bread, how good does it smell….. but I know I would feel terrible after eating it.
This is a great Sarah, and well made. Parents are horrified when they find out that muesli bars are as bad for their kids teeth as a chocolate bar. They look at the natural ingredients, ignoring the fact that they are unnaturally stuck together with a mountain of sugar…
Those “good for you” “pure” and “100% natural labels” are so seductive. They seem to make life too easy for words. But that ease comes at a high price when we don’t feel the effect of them on our body.
They are in competition with the unhealthy food, to gain market share. Rather than standing by their promise of delivering a healthy alternative, they are going down the line of appealing to full-on taste sensation …justifying it by using Himalayan rock salt, and ‘natural’ sugars.
Well salt is salt and sugar is sugar, just like a wolf is a wolf, even when you dress it up in the finest of sheep’s clothing.
Yes Sarah, Katie and Rachel, deep down we know junk food is killing us and we should eat better. The clever advertising in the health food section plays with our healthy image and serves up junk food with wholesome labels.
Steve that’s a clever trick we fell for over and over, have another glass of red it’s good for your heart…
Whilst the kidneys were paying the price. Marketing and sales have always been the motivating factor and we have all fallen ‘hook line and sinker ‘ for it because we wanted to feel or taste the new product or like Kevin we wanted to fit in and be cool.
This a really great point Steve, we don’t want to see whats not good for us so we started to alter the taste to trick our minds, and make us not truly feel from a very young age. But I can account Energydrinks do definitely not taste good either…
Yes I remember that too Benkt, I never liked the energy drinks at all, they taste so artifical, and the same with a lot of soft drinks too, full of sugar and artificial tasting…
Great point Steve, the amount of processing that some foods go through now in order that they stimulate our senses as we expect is crazy. So important to discern the quality from what we feel.
Its the very processing of so many foods that turns a lot of people of the plain tastes of steamed vegetables, yet if we remove the processed overly salted and flavoured foods from our diets and refine our tastebuds we get the sensations that return of how enjoyable and nourishing it is to eat healthy foods.
This is so true, we are taught from an early age that it is ok to override something that tastes nasty and to ‘sugar coat it’ literally. I actually remember refusing to swallow antibiotics because of the capsule casing, as I was convinced the plastic looking casing would poison me and not dissolve, so the cases had to be split open and contents put on a spoon, but the medicine taste horrendous so out came the sugar to disguise the taste. This solution does seem to have become extremely common – it makes me wonder how many food and drink items we consume that would be rejected if we didn’t have the sugar added.
True Jane – I have felt the importance of registering how my body feels not only before I eat something but during and afterwards – a constant awareness and marker for me to truly know if it was my tastebuds, my head or my body talking.
Food is a constant experiment and I love that my body knows what it needs and this is always changing.
Yep and taste means nothing, in that loads of things can be ‘tasty’ but not good for us or what our bodies really need. With all the sugar, sweetness and artificial flavours put in food I would say it is not a question of re-training our taste buds but instead deeply listening to our bodies and what they tell us they need in order to be truly supported.
My body agrees with that Jane.
I can remember a time when my taste buds were not so tainted and things like sugar tasted absolutely wrong. As a child I accustomed myself to sugar by eating the desserts that were put in front of me to eat. But I never liked them.
Now it is very different and I have to be aware not to be drawn into food by my taste buds.
I know what you mean Jenny, at times my taste buds will convince me that the flavour of sugar or salt is just what I need. This is because these foods come with a memory, imprinted years before, often in my childhood. Certain foods like sugar and salt were regularly called upon to numb a feeling or situation I didn’t want to feel or deal with.
I’m now able to read these ingrained patterns for what they are, and make an aware choice before I put something in my mouth. I don’t always get it right, but I am certainly committed to getting more and more honest with myself, and exposing the comfort that food has fulfilled for me over many, many years.
That is so true…now we take them to the doctor for one thing and if we are not clear about not having sugar loaded medicine we can come out with a hyperactive child! Sick and hyperactive…not my favourite combination…I am sure others can agree to that one! Animals are so much smarter and less easily persuaded I have found!
Oh, I cannot imagine how bad that combination would be Lucy! Sick children need rest. So do their parents.
I’d totally forgotten about taking medicine as a child until I read your comment – but yes, most times it tasted awful and yet we knew it was supposed to be good for us… it made me consider the kinds of things that model to us at a young age that we should override our bodies and go with what someone else determines is good for us. I’m not suggesting at all that we shouldn’t support ourselves with medicine etc when needed but more that we often override what we feel and that this begins and is learnt from a young age… No wonder we are well practised by the time we reach adulthood.
Great point Steve – Is it a wonder we are a nation of sugar addicts as sugar intensified drinks/foods/potions are so abundant. Perhaps if sugar itself tasted unpleasant as in the original medicine which tasted awful these substances would not be such a temptation! No purchase = no demand = no need. Then some bright spark would invent an alternative Mmmmm!!!!! which would still ‘fool our senses’ or would it?
The modern food industry has a lot to answer for in terms of its decisions to continually use food technology to dream up new ways to tantalise and hook us in – though it is us who need to take responsibility for buying their products. The processing of food and manipulation of food materials into food-like substances for consumption was, like many things, an offshoot of WW1 and WW2 where it became necessary to develop processes that would render food fit for consumption in war zones far from home. A lot of our modern industries were the result of this mass-scale ramping up – once it had been done, the opportunity to create markets for these products and processes post-war was the obvious next step. What we see today, with the glut of foods available to us, is the end result of this industrialisation. We will have to undo it one day.
It has already gone too far… way too far out of control. Food is being used just like video games, gambling, or any other addiction – as a form of stimulation and distraction from life. Even in the ‘organic, or healthy eating’ movement, we still have stimulation – just in a different form.
‘Energy drink’, what an interesting term. Particularly when the truth is that consuming a bottle of sugar / caffeine water actually depletes the body’s energy, rather than replenishes it. How upside down lots of things are.
I agree Lieke – in nature animals know not to eat things because they don’t taste good – it is a survival technique. However we seem to have lost that in our society and continue to eat and drink things we perhaps shouldn’t.
Yes good point Rebecca, we have mastered overriding what our bodies communicate and are becoming far sicker as a consequence. It is the animals that ran for the hills in the Tsunami that survived, the ones that listened to their bodies. Perhaps it is time we did the same.
I agree Fiona, animals that follow their instincts, despite the fact that there may appear to be no reason for them, are the ones that survive. Could you imagine if someone said they felt they needed to get higher up – they would be told to stop being silly.
High time we did the same – I am learning more and more to trust my body what it is telling me now, and am so glad when I have listened and responded appropriately. The body lets me know either way …
Learning to trust our bodies is a big one, I know for me it is an ongoing and daily commitment. To listen, feel and take notice to what it is saying to me.
Very good point point Rebecca. Animals know to avoid the foods that will make them ill – although I have noticed that some pets have lost their sense, eating chocolate and other substances that are very bad for them. It seems we are a very bad influence on ourselves, each other and animals too.
So true Rachel – we humans have a huge responsibility in the way we choose to live as we have the capacity to heal or harm everything we touch. Look at how many pets are so ‘humanly loved’ that they are grossly overweight which impacts on their health and vitality.
Food is not love. It is food…and sometimes very bad food.
This is also a note to self!
I agree Rachel, when we live in a way that is against what is naturally true for us we can influence the pets we keep, forcing our way of living onto them.
Yes we are Rachel. I was at a dinner once with a friend and she had dined with another friend at lunch and it was the same meal that we all ate. There was a side dish that was not really good for any of us and at lunch, one friend did not eat it so the friend I dined with at dinner did not. I ate it at dinner and then the friend I dined with did as well. Whilst we are responsible for ourselves, I saw very clearly that when I go to eat something that my body does not want, I give permission and make it easier for someone else to do the same. It was a real eye opener in terms of responsibility.
Sarah, I have had a very similar experience recently and shocked myself at the level of irresponsibility I have been living with. I realised that every time I join another by eating something which I know is not good for me I am saying it’s OK and actively encouraging the other to eat something which I know is harmful to the body.
That is really interesting Sarah. I have also noticed that often if someone is eating something that you may not be eating, they may try to encourage you to have ‘just a little bit’ of it to relieve the feeling they have about making a choice that is not supporting them.
Great observation Sarah. When we choose comfort we are never just choosing it for ourselves alone. The ripple effect of our choices is ginormous and literally beyond the comprehension of the brain. This is a wonderful reminder that we get to choose the quality of energy we wish to emanate and share with the world – be it love or abuse.
I know that one. I cannot eat potato chips..the delicious hot ones with the crispy outsides and fluffy insides…
When I see another person eat them, every crazy story in my head kicks in…oh! its just one…one won’t hurt…its OK because my friend can eat them.. I’m sure I can eat them too.
Even when I don’t eat them, which is invariably the case these days I have already fought a prolonged battle in my mind. This is really crazy. When I ask my body it is simple.
“Do you want potato chips body?”
“No”.
“OK.”
Drama quotient is zero.
Yes often I see them getting ‘treats’ of the table from their ‘parents’ and I am amazed what they are given at times. It is astounding that some people will offer chocolate or even alcohol to their pets.
Great point Katie, we let ourselves stray and then we support our pets to stray.
My dog used to eat grass if she had a stomach ache and would then throw up – she knew what was needed at that time to make herself feel better. It seems so easy as humans to override what our bodies are telling us – many times I have felt that I would benefit from abstaining from food say over night due to a dodgy stomach, but then find myself eating something and then my stomach feels upset again.
So true Rebecca and yet we think of ourselves as ‘evolved’ in comparison to the animal kingdom.
Hahaha – ja how funny is that – (not)! We only have to look at the state our whole planet is at to truly see how ‘evolved’ we are….
Yes , we are very much behind the eight ball. In fact we need to stop playing the game and start truly considering where we are at.
I find it ridiculous that we tell ourselves that we are more sophisticated and apparently ‘intelligent’ when we hold a mature and acquired taste… for things such as wine, cheese, and a whole range of other foods and drinks. This ‘sophistication’ is simply masking the initial reactions of our body and desensitising ourselves to appear as though we ‘like’ these substances.
I agree Rebecca, any animal shows us up on the ‘intelligence’ factor here, as there is no way they would consume anything that is not supportive for their body.
The ‘sophistication’ factor is one of the reasons I gave up drinking wine. After attending a wine tasting course many, many years ago, it totally exposed for me that connoisseurship is little more than a modern day marketing ploy, designed to get us more and more hooked to a product through its association with an image it portrays.
Yep when did a total disregard for the body become an integral part of being sophisticated, or has it always been there as just another trick when we let the mind run the show.
Its so true Rebecca. Animals are so intune with their bodies that they know exactly what they can and can’t eat because they have to rely on their senses – sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. It is quite extraordinary really that even when we go to eat something and we may not like the smell or even the initial taste, we will still sometimes go ahead and eat or drink it. It is amazing what does happen though when we do listen to our bodies and how beautifully things configure around us and for everyone else.
With obesity at all time highs it is clear we are eating many things that aren’t what we need.
We also have a culture where we have spent much time and effort concocting recipes and dishes that taste good and encourage us to eat beyond what we truly need. How many squirrels eat quiche for example? Would they develop ‘haute cuisine’? No! Only us humans have played with food as we have played with all else in creation, and to our own detriment.
My experience was just like that Lieke with tasting coffee for the first time. I was also disappointed by the bitter taste compared to the smell. So I never drank it black but changed the taste with soy-milk and honey so I could drink it. Interesting to reflect back on drinking something I didn’t even like in its original form.
It is actually, all the additives we apply to enhance the flavour… this needs to be reflected upon.
Yeah, I did that too but I also had my coffee weak because I couldn’t handle the caffeine, looking back, it was really just a warm cup of sweet babies milk!
Yes Mary and without the sugar we wouldn’t get addicted and crave for more.
Hear hear – nail on the head!
I did the same with coffee but only after I had acquired the taste of English breakfast tea. Friends would drink tea at school and I hated it, I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about but eventually I decided I wanted to ‘fit in’ and find out what I was missing out on so overcame the horrible taste and started drinking tea.
Diana I did the same, I could never drink coffee or tea back, I had to add lots of milk to change its original taste to just suit me. It’s crazy we do this rather than saying no I will not drink this as I don’t like the original taste. It’s crazy how we disguise the original taste and find work sounds. If only we where truthful and honest and just did not drink it because we did not like the taste. Our bodies are giving us the signal, but we are ignoring it.
Just like someone ‘sugar coating’ bad news or something we don’t want to listen to, we sweeten things in life to make them more palatable.
Sugar may fool the tastebuds momentarily but it can never fool the body.
No poison has ever tasted sweeter than sugar.
Agree Lieke, “great truths are found in simplicity and common sense.” I can very much relate to what Kevin is sharing, how I had to get used to all those horrible substances to be able to intake them. And it was not only the taste, what they did to my body was often far worse. Alcohol made me feel so sick, cigarettes made my circulation break down and dairy and gluten gave me horrible stomach ache and the consumption of all those things always impacted my energy levels, so I felt always exhausted and tired. When I stopped intaking all those substances, together with other self-caring choices I have today a level of vitality I did not have in my twenties.
So true Rachel, what we make ourselves ‘get used to’ with the substances we intake, food we eat and the like. Our bodies are usually very quick to let us know that is doesn’t like it, but we persist and override what our body is telling us. I know for me, I overrode most things, alcohol, food, drugs, relationships all of which impacted on how I lived and choices I made to have a healthy and self honouring life.
Ditto to all that here too Raegan. I acquired a taste for many things that were bad for me, including all you listed, and overrode my initial dislike of the lot. The ultimate question is ‘Why’?’. The reasons are many and various I guess but in essence I would have to say it was to fill a need, very much outside of myself, of some sort. There was no true connection with myself and thus nothing I could use to anchor myself more firmly in what was actually true for me.
I also remember my first coffee Lieke, I was 18 years old and all of my life up until that point I did not like the taste of tea or coffee, but then I was at work and it seemed the grown up thing to do, so I tried a milky coffee with lots of sugar and that was it, I was hooked. Gradually the milk and sugar was reduced and the coffee got stronger.
It is interesting how we persevere with these substances which taste horrible and tell ourselves they taste so great or that they are good for us.
Oh yes I remember that one too: ‘it seemed the grown up thing to do’, which made me try it. As a teenager you see everyone around you drink coffee and it is just seen as part of growing up. When it then doesn’t taste good the only thing we consider is that we might be ‘weird’ or ‘wrong’ and use all those substances like milk, sugar, honey etc to make us able to ingest it without showing we don’t really like it. Funny to consider also that a lot of people did not like the taste of coffee to start with so who are we really fooling?
It would be very interesting to survey people on how they first experienced cigarettes, alcohol, smelly cheeses, coffee, dark chocolate etc to be. I would say the majority would share a not pleasant experience – then a good follow up survey would be to question ‘why did you continue?’ This would clearly show is how far we ignore our bodies and the reasons to why we crazily do so.
Yep, totally agree Johanna08 and Jane, it would be fascinating… I wonder what kicks in to override the initial response if it was a negative one.
If I were to answer that question now I would say it was because these things were considered (with the exception of cigarettes – though cigars had the nod) the hallmarks of gourmandism, connoisseurship and sophistication. I grew up around food and pursued a career in it in my 20s that was all about worshipping at the altar of food and restaurants – glamour and greed combined. It had very little to do with true nourishment and restoration.
I first tried cigarettes when I was about 14 whilst on my own baby-sitting, so I cannot really blame peer pressure, but later on in life when I was in my twenties I realised that I was smoking to relieve an emotion and that I was starting to rely on them – with this realisation I was able nip it in the bud so to speak.
‘Had I been aware that this habit was because of my overwhelming sense of emptiness…’ Those words ‘Had I been aware…’ are pivotal to this conversation. The thing is, so many of us are in the grip of such strong consciousnesses that we no longer have the awareness we need to pull ourselves out of them, with that which we ingest further cementing our lack of awareness. Thank God for Serge Benhayon – one who has been sufficiently free of that which blinds us to be able to lift the veil for those who feel the truth in what is being presented and decide to act upon it.
In my own experience and from what I have seen around me it seems coffee like alcohol, is a rite of passage. Parents are often proud when their children acquire the taste for coffee, like we have achieved something.
Julie, I did the same with espresso coffee. I wanted to look sophisticated and like the Europeans who love their espressos . I felt it looked the part with the cigarette at the end of a meal and I would add so much sugar that it drowned out the taste of the bitter coffee. I continued drinking it because I loved the pick me up of the sugar and caffine at the end of a meal when we were invariably going on out but I never really enjoyed it. It is also interesting how we put so much more importance on the image we would like to portray than the harm we are doing to ourselves by trying to live up to our perceived image.
I love your last sentence Lieke, simplicity and comonsense are something that get overriden first to not truly have to feel what is going on.
There is something strange going on when the taste and smell of a food or drink do not match each other. I had the same reaction to coffee, altercated to the smell, but horrified by the scalding bitterness. It felt like drinking burnt food…but add milk and plenty of sugar and voilá! A highly drinkable substance. What is that saying about a food/drink, if you have to add so much to it to make it palatable?
Simplicity and common sense are the key Lieke. They can free us from the idea that we must follow trends, fashions and the pressure of our peers to comply.
It’s so true what you are sharing and that is exactly what I was like. I drank weak, sweet soy lattes, just basically babies milk. Then there are also those people that pride themselves on not only ‘loving” black coffee but thriving on the thought that they are superior because they are able to drink it. They think of themselves as more hard core if they drink their coffee black, they whiskey straight and their meat rare. I know it well as I have worked in the hospitality industry for so many years.
Yes it is often seen as a status symbol – and makes no sense at all, does it.
Yes I too have seen how certain foods or drinks are used as markers for having a high level of tolerance in their body. Craziness gone crazy!!
It’s true! The more we can tolerate a certain food that others cannot seems to give some ‘superior sophistication’ complex!!
At what point did self abuse become intelligent or sophisticated?
It is even stranger when we further separate what a food tastes like from the way it makes us feel. The jitteriness, aggressiveness, and following depression that coffee brought on in me was what really turned me off of drinking it. Yes, could add enough milk and sugar to make it drinkable, but there was nothing to mask the side-effects.
I love the smell of coffee but my body hates the taste and the physical consequences of drinking it. It is extreme with my heart racing and my words falling out of my mouth faster than my brain can formulate the words… I had that happen once and never again. I can enjoy the smell of something without making myself find a way to like consuming it! Now, how to apply that obvious logic to other things in my life…
Like I like following sentences: “I know great truths are found in simplicity and common sense.” With all my experiences in my life so far I only can agree. I am often pondering why easy things got sometimes so complicated – perhaps people like complication unknowingly deep down as complication hold people busy and with that they do not have to feel e.g. their loneliness – I for myself can say that this was one of the reason why I made things sometimes complicated.
Absolutely Ester. I notice with myself that when I know the truth and it is very simple but I do not want it to be like that I have my way: Complication. Making it complicated, doubting, explaining in my mind why it could also be different etc. Yet the more I love myself and care for myself the more I am able to surrender and follow these simple truths it makes life so much easier and more joyful as well.
So true Lieke, the more we connect to our self and nurture and look after our self with true loving care, the more we feel what is truly true for us and can stay in the simplicity of knowing and maybe actioning on that as well.
Good point Leike truths are found in simplicity and common sense!
This is spot on Lieke. We tend to eat/drink things that are ‘cool’ to not be left out, to not be difficult or to upset others if they have provided something for us, rather than being totally honest and saying, thanks but no thanks, I don’t eat/drink that because I don’t like it. I did this with alcohol, coffee, tea, rich foods, and all because I didn’t want to stand out. What Kevin says here is really what so many of us feel when it comes to food – if it tastes horrible does it then not also mean that it is not good for us?’ You sum it up beautifully when you say ‘Great truths really are found in simplicity and common sense.’
I agree Lieke, this is a great question – “if it tastes horrible does it then not also mean that it is not good for us?”
our body has amazing senses for a purpose – offering a constant communication to us to respond to (or not) . For example the sense of touch let’s us know if something is hot, to prevent us burning ourselves, taste and smell reactions cold be a flag being raised as a signal from the body that something is harmful or dangerous.
I know right, and what about that cheese that actually has mould on it …. but we eat it!!!! Kevin is so right in how we de-sensitise our taste buds. Yet they have to be there for a reason!!!!
This must be confusing for many people in their mind, mould = not eat, but then mould = eat? Alcohol = definitely not drink, but then also later in life alcohol = drink?! I think when we stop wanting to numb out that we are truly missing ourselves then we will stop making up these lies that we innately know are lies.
Yes Lieke, when we think about it, it makes complete sense that our taste buds are there to guide us as to what is supportive for our body’s wellbeing and what is not, and that to take notice of our reactions to foods and substances is such a simple way to work with our body to stay healthy.
Absolutely, great truth found in simplicity and common sense and the taste buts that are telling us when something is not good for our body and digesting system. It is such a simple response we have the choice to listen to.
Yes Lieke, we override simplicity and common sense to fit in with what everyone else is doing, but our body clearly tells us from the start what feels good from what doesn’t.
So true Lieke! It raises the point about whether the real reason for having the coffee, alcohol or anything else that may not be so good for us at all is solely for the taste. Often it is touted that it is. But our persistence to ‘acquire the taste’ would show otherwise
Our bodies know when something is not suited for us by the way it reacts to what we put into it. This can be coughing, nausea, a hangover, or the most basic of responses: it just tastes bad. It is amazing to me how we can override these quite clear responses and signals we are given.
Like you Lieke I have finally come to know that “great truths are found in simplicity and common sense”. It has been a life changing realisation to see so clearly that when we complicate things we bury the truth beneath the complications, and most common sense along with it. Keep it simple and the truth will be revealed.
Great truths are found in simplicity and common sense; this in itself is very simple yet so wise with a divine message for us all. I love what you both have expressed, thank you Kevin and Lieke.
It does Lieke, common sense is so bastardised to the level that it is normal to eat and drink substances that taste horrible, and in turn are clearly not healthy for the body. Simplicity is key to understanding what is truly good for us.
For me, I used to love the smell of coffee and yet I recall that it often tasted bitter for the first few mouthfuls… Over the years I noted my coffee got stronger and what previously tasted not so great I began to tolerate – and claimed I enjoyed. I now realise that aside from the taste, there were other very obvious signs to me that my body didn’t like coffee – including feeling racy, and hyped up etc. It was only when I got honest about what I was really using coffee for – to counteract my exhaustion and provide me with a reward for my hard life – that I finally started to be aware how it really tasted and felt in my body.
Great points Lieke. Makes me wonder why we are really consuming these substances in the first place if its clearly not for the taste. Just shows how much more we consume food and drink based on many other factors, beyond the basic simplicity of nourishment and nurturing.