2023 has been, thus far, a good lesson for me in how you can get caught in vicious cycles.
My mood overall has been low in 2023, especially compared to 2022. A combination of the normal challenges of life & work, reaching a reflective age, witnessing the challenges of others and grappling with existential issues.
I thought that I mostly had a handle on the low mood. I recognised it, understood its drivers, and tried to be accepting of it as a natural fluctuation of emotions over the life course.
But I recently developed some illness symptoms that knocked me out of the game for a week or so. Nothing serious, but enough to jolt me to attention.
As I took action to resolve those symptoms, it became clear they were being driven by my habits, particularly my diet.
I’ve been in a battle with food since I was a child, trying to find a way of eating that is sustainable but produces the outcomes I desired (particularly weight & pain management). I’ve been down many blind alleys, dead-ends and harmful paths. I am definitely the last person you should ask for advice about food 🙂
As my mood fell in 2023, my bad dietary habits increased. I started relying on chocolate and energy drinks to fuel me through a day. I was reintroducing foods I knew from previous experience didn’t help me.
And it wasn’t that I didn’t see it happening. But I tried to bring the same acceptance to these food choices that I was taking with the mood. Unfortunately, that just led to a situation where I gave myself permission to be miserable and unhealthy. It doesn’t take a genius to work out how that combination ends. The title of this blog post captures how that cycle operates.
As I write this, I am partway into the process of tidying up the diet and treating the resulting health symptoms. I can see early progress and that gives me hope.
It is a timely reminder that acceptance isn’t passive resignation. Acceptance is a self-honest appraisal of the situation one finds oneself in, so that wise action can be taken. I was self-honest about the mood, but I wasn’t dealing with that information wisely. It took my body telling me I was making dumb choices to wake up to that.
Is your body trying to tell you anything about the situation you find yourself in?
Dr Gareth Furber 