Thursday, July 19, 2012

Health and Discernment

I am currently reading the book:

The Way Is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage Along the Camino de Santiago

This is more a book about life than about walking, or you might say it is a book about walking through life.    I am a lifelong walker so it should be no surprise to my friends that I picked up this book about walking the  Camino de Santiago in Spain.  (I have no intention of travelling to Spain to walk.)  But I do walk (and hike) other places and much of what this author said resonated with me.  Here’s one quote:

Addictions counselors advise paying special attention to being HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. . . I was hungry, lonely, and tired, and in no time at all allowed myself to be uncharacteristically swayed by unsolicited advice from strangers. (p. 79)

I have seen this in myself.  Hungry and tired.  Lonely and tired.  Or simply, tired. . . or hungry.  Any of these states leaves me with less discernment and with the tendency to make poor decisions.  When I am hungry and tired, arguments over silly things may lead to shouting.  This morning, it was an argument over whether gelatin expands in water (it does).  Hardly an important matter.  In fact, most of the arguments between my husband and myself have occurred when we were both tired or hungry.

Do you want to make good decisions?  Do you want to avoid foolish arguments?  Consider these questions.

How is your health?  Are you well-rested?  Do you have friends?  Do you let go of anger?  Do you eat on time and nutritiously?  If you cannot say no to all of these, you may be harming yourself with an unhealthful mental state.  You may be making poor decisions or unable to think clearly.  Take time in life to eat well, sleep well, let go of anger, and spend time with your friends and things will go well for you.

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