Trust vs Fear

There are many words or concepts that relate to the word trust; openness, freedom, letting go, surrender, being.  Correspondingly there are many related meanings for fear also; ego, defensiveness, doubt, worry, etc.

It is hard for some to feel or imagine what trust truly means or feels like, as it may be such a foreign concept for them.  I think like with everything there are different degrees to which we experience trust.  

I trust that when I breathe in I will breathe in air that contains oxygen, allowing me to continue to live.  This is an unconscious or innate trust.  I may be able to trust that I will have enough to eat and drink for the day.  These days for some that may not always be a given.  But what about trusting yourself?

Can you trust that your body knows what it needs?  I think in the past we had a greater connection to the earth and our environment and probably could answer yes to this question.  These days many turn to doctors whom they only half heartily trust, and so also look to complementary modes of healing, which include Nutrition, Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Counseling, Massage and other bodywork therapies, etc.  What about your mind?  Is this something you trust?  Finally, what about your place in the universe, your spiritual connection to divine, God?  Are you someone that truly believes you are cared for, and someone who lives from that place, or do you have doubts, questions, and like many suffer from a disconnection between your mind and your heart?

Did you know you had a choice?  

To Trust is to Surrender

I used to think that I had to work hard at everything, to be good at it, to succeed.  I had to be perfect.

How does that relate to a concept like trust?  Working hard at it, thinking I have to do it a certain way, to be successful, may mean I could fail, it may mean it is all up to me, and my small shoulders.

What if trust wasn't something outside of me, a concept, a state I had to attain, but rather a letting go, a surrender to a deeper gentler relationship with myself.

What would happen if I stopped struggling and fighting and could just be with myself?

How would that change the way I respond to my fear, my pain, my joy?

Would that allow a greater sense of ease, joy and self?

Would this new sense of self simply know...TRUST.

Trust Yourself and EAT.

During and after going through a long illness in my twenties I read everything I could get my hands on that pertained to health, complementary therapies and nutrition.  I myself was a Vegetarian, followed a Rotation Diet, a Candida Diet, a Gluten Free Diet, a, well and some other variation of such.

Everywhere you go and turn you hear about some diet or program that will change your life.  Some are fad diets, some are based on scientific inquiry, others are just, well you decide.

There’s Vegetarianism and Vegan, similar, but being a Vegan means no eggs or dairy either.
There’s the 4 or is it 5 food group standard diet, which really is quite good, except that many people assume all carbs are the same, and can substitute Twinkies for real grains, or processed oils for cold pressed oils.
There’s the Atkins Diet, which actually isn’t that crazy if you read the book, and look at the later stages.  I’ll agree the first stage is extreme.
Then there’s the Caveman Diet.  What can you say, bizarre, yet makes sense if we’re still genetically similar to our ancient ancestors.
Speaking of ancestors, then there’s the Blood Type Diet, which assumes we all came from a Blood Type of O, the caveman, but then due to migration, geography, agriculture, etc. changed the way we eat, and the type of food we eat.  It maintains that as we changed the food we ate over the years our bodies changed, making different blood types more suitable for different diets.
Rotation Diet, suggests you rotate your foods every four days, so that you don’t eat anything everyday.  Difficult in today’s world, but a good idea to some degree.  Many of us are sick from eating foods we’re sensitive to everyday, ie. dairy, corn, gluten, eggs are some of the big culprits.
Gluten Free Diet, simply means eliminating everything with gluten in it; wheat, rye, oats, barley, spelt, kamut.  Daunting at first, but once you start it becomes easier.  This is necessary for those with certain digestive and allergy problems.
Raw Food Diet.  This one is kind of self explanatory, but extreme to say the least.  Raw foods are important, they carry enzymes and vitamins which can be lost in the cooking process, but...moderation.

So what is the point of all of this.  I’ve come to believe in moderation.  Nothing to the extreme, seems natural or good for me.  I’ve know people that went Vegetarian for ethical reasons only to have to add meat back into their diets some years later due to health reasons.  I’ve know people who thrive on a Vegan diet.  I’ve known people who swear by the Blood Type Diet.
Also I’ve come to believe in trusting myself, and am continuing to embrace this practice in all areas of my life.  When it comes to food it means trusting that my body, and it does, know’s what it needs...which is not what I may crave.  I eat meat, and feel that 2-3 times a week seems like a good place to be for me at this time.  That may change in the future.  I eat gluten grains now, though don’t eat wheat daily.  I eat dairy, but also not daily.  There was a time when I could eat neither, and when I had to eliminate all grains during pollen season due to allergies, and inflammation.  Yes grains, all grains can cause many people problems.

You are bombarded with information and advertising, and you are restricted by time.  It’s not easy, but more than ever it’s rewarding to slow down and listen to what your body truly needs.  Trust yourself.