“Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A daily reader for Overeaters Anonymous, For Today, uses Longfellow’s words from “The Poets”, with the insight that dedication to a craft is an internal motivation for April 20. Today is nearly as good a start as yesterday and a better one than tomorrow. So, here I go.
Step 1 of many Anonymous groups focusing on addition – “I am powerless over the target of my addictive nature (food), and my life has become unmanageable because of it.”
How do I reconcile that triumph (and/or) defeat are to be found within, but that I am powerless over food? These seem at odds with one another. If a win can be found within, shouldn’t the power to win also be intrinsic to the self?
I have struggled with food my entire life (in a wide array of types of difficulties) and have tried all sorts of ways to find control. I have fasted; I have gorged. I have been strict, and I have been free range. I have measured and metered my food. I allowed myself limitless quantities of certain types. Momentary successes have been plentiful. The relapses have been, too.
The successes have been defined by outside sources, though: size, circumference, days. The paths have been defined by outside systems: intermittent fasting, disordered eating, strict adherence to calorie or macro counts.
Neither the success nor the power have been within.
Today, here’s to making the success my own, an adaptation of 301 (three meals a day, nothing in between, 1 day at a time).
411 – Where I will go for my answers and my truth.
Four dedicated times to eat (nutrition for my body and mind).
One treat for my soul per day.
One day at a time.
Internal Monologue 
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