This week I’m seeing a lot of my cousins that I haven’t seen in decades. And it’s not for a funeral. My sister is flying back from the east coast for this mini family reunion; just because. I’m half expecting a food fight at the PizzaKing in Council Bluffs because we are all at the opposite ends of the political spectrum and Uncle Larry -- whom will be in attendance -- is at that age where God knows what will come out of his mouth. Someone is bound to be offended. (I’m giddy with anticipation.)
I’m trying to fast for 24 hours once a week. I’m 18 hours into today’s fast and I may start gnawing on my desk.* Supposedly, there are massive good things that come from fasting. Someone once told me it’s not about the quantity of your life (how long you live) but the quality (how great your life was, regardless of how many years). I think I want both - a great, long life. So when I weigh the benefits of things like fasting, are there short term paybacks (like better sleep and clarity of mind)? Or is it just a horrible way to spend a day, once a week with the hope that way down the line, it will benefit my health somehow?
Short term as well as long term benefits should both be weighed when going into any endeavor. Back when I was running and thought a marathon was a good thing for me (a heavy non athlete) to do, I didn’t really examine the long term ramifications of such a distance on my joints. I didn’t run for probably 10 years post marathon because my knees hurt. So take this to a lot of other things, everything from drinking too much tequila in college and now you can’t stand it, to listening to your music full blast for decades and now you’re deaf. (Both are true with me.) Does it take a crystal ball to understand how much is too much of good thing or is it common sense? I think with maturity comes practicality and we, through trial and error, learn, grow and evolve.
Short term vs long term … quantity vs quality … Life is all about balance.
*I usually decide about an hour before my fast ends (at 5PM) that I have lost at least 7 pounds and I am amazing. Then I feed voraciously for the next 2 hours and gain 8 pounds. I’m not sure that this is how it’s supposed to work.
