The Desire Versus the Act
Disregulated eaters tend to act as
if feelings and behavior are one and the same, or at least as if they’re so intertwined
that they can’t be separated. A line in a mystery I read long ago struck me as
a useful description in distinguishing the two. I hope it helps you recognize the
difference, especially around your eating.
The line came from the protagnist in Lawrence Block’s mystery, EVEN THE WICKED: “There is, I have been
taught, all the difference in the world between the desire and the act. The one
is written on water, the other carved in stone.” The speaker is a recovered
alcoholic, a deeply flawed but reflective private eye who has found a better
life in recovery after years of addictive misery. Not so different from
disregulated eaters who are working towards “normal” eating and learning not to
act on impulse.
I like the way that Block—from what
I’ve read about him, a recovered alcoholic—uses the word desire. Most of us recognize that desires are internal impulses and
that they come and go. You may want
to have Asian food one night and seafood the next, may wish to spend one vacation in the mountains and another at the
shore, may desire on a Saturday to do
nothing but read and relax and on a Sunday prefer
to get out and be with people or vice versa. Are we all agreed then that desire
is an internal word? Thoughts or feelings, they're strictly an inside
job. However, when—and only when—desire crosses over the line to b...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs
More News: Addiction | Alcoholism | Blogging | Girls | Learning | Legislation | National Institute for Health and Clinical Excelle | Seafood | Universities & Medical Training