Good vs. Evil
Simplistic View of the World
Using good vs. evil to categorize things is such a simplistic way to look at the world, without understanding the root reasons of why something is automatically considered as good or bad.
Russia vs. Ukraine.
Republicans vs. Democrats.
And that seems to be what health has been simplified to: Good and bad.
“Sugar is bad. Eliminate sugar.”
“Fat is bad. Remove fat.”
“Don’t drink too much water because you could get hyponatremia.” ~ It’s a condition where the sodium content of your blood becomes diluted and can be life-threatening.
“Don’t eat too much protein because you could be at risk of getting kidney stones.”
And more.
All of us are probably thinking that there’s nothing left for us to eat.
Nothing is black and white in life.
If you live your life categorizing everything under ‘good vs. evil’ or as “black and white”, you will find yourself living a stressed and restricted life.
Sugar Is Not The Enemy
So why do we hear and say such things?
We do this when things are out of balance.
Take eliminating sugar for example.
Why are we being told to remove sugar these days, when sugar is the major source of fuel for our brain?
As a substance, it is neither good nor bad.
Why is it bad for us now?
That is because we have an over-abundance of sugar in many products, mostly processed and refined foods.
There was also the remnant of 80’s & 90’s high carbohydrates and low fat fad diets that made us consume more carbohydrates (which turn into glucose) than we probably should have.
What is added to low fat foods to make them taste good?
You guessed it. Sugar!
As a society, we have become dependent on many of the conveniences provided (at cost to our health) by the food industry and to blindly trust what was given to us, without looking deeply into how they are made, where the ingredients come from, and what additives were created to make them have a long shelf life.
Every little bit adds up.
When you have a little bit of sugar here and there, and pretty much everywhere on top of having a sedentary lifestyle, you are bound to gain weight because our body cannot process the onslaught of sugar in our system and becomes insulin resistant.
We want to be insulin sensitive.
So, like everything in nature, a counterbalance force, with experts and health practitioners in this case now, is pointing that out and telling us to avoid sugar because we need to bring the homeostasis (aka. balance) back into our body.
Bring Balance Back
Another example is, why are we being told to incorporate more physical movements?
It is because of the stress we have created for ourselves to reach a certain material and status goal or goals.
We end up sitting much of our daily life, working, spending time in front of our screens, in meetings, in cars, and living in our heads.
Because in the pursuit of those goals, we forget to pay attention to our close relationships or our physical and mental health.
The pressure of needing to achieve is so great (produced by the perfectionist inside all of us) that it renders us motionless (because it’s all or nothing with the perfectionist), that we are ‘crushed’ by the mental stress of not reaching the success defined by our culture or society, rather than by our own passion and desire.
We are now being reminded everywhere to be more mindful, to slow down and take time to smell the roses, and to get up and move throughout our day.
It is a counterbalance to what we do too much of.
I would invite you to take 5 minutes each day to examine where in your life things have been off-balance.
Are you working too much and spending little time with family?
I don’t mean you need to spend every waking hour now with your family.
But perhaps start by carving out a day or a couple of hours each week, where you spend QUALITY time with your family.
Enjoy a good laugh together.
Make a meal together.
Even going for a walk together.
Or have you been doing everything for everyone that you have long neglected your own needs that you are starting to resent your loved ones and feeling under-appreciated?
Book a massage so you have that one hour to yourself and enjoy the treatment.
Don’t cook a meal.
It’s OK if your family prepares the meal or orders take-outs once a while.
Perhaps you are super into healthy eating, and you feel bad not cooking or providing your family good and healthy food.
You family will totally be fine not eating as healthy at one meal.
Your sanity, though, may not be fine because you never know when the straw is going to break the camel’s back.
Self-care Is Not Selfish
Remember we need to put our own oxygen mask on before we can help our loved ones with theirs.
It does require a bit of an effort when things have been going in a certain direction for a long time.
Just like when you are driving your car and about to make a turn.
What do you do first?
You have to press on the brake to slow down and maybe even stop completely before you can make the turn.
Then you turn and slowly accelerate until you reach the normal speed again.
Nothing is inherently good or evil.
It is how we use them in whatever circumstances that called them forth.
Just like a knife, it can be such an excellent helper in the kitchen and yet in the hands of a person who is intending to cause harm, it can be deadly.
I’m grateful for their roles as reminders to help us check what has been out of balance.
Whether it is our life or our health, we are always looking for ways to bring balance back so things can flow more smoothly.
What are some other examples you can think of that we tend to categorize them as bad or as good?
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