amastie
Member
Hi,
I live in Melbourne in Australia. I joined this community when, in searching on Zen, I found a thread by David on 'Mindfulness eating' (posted I think in 2004). I am Spiritualist by belief. I'm also drawn to eastern philosophies, Zen in particular (though I cannot speak from much knowledge of it at this time). I practise a form of meditation *when* I can and it deeply impacts on my well-being and also on my ability to let go of the need to overeat - which is, physically, my biggest challenge. As a result, I am grossly overweight. It is not a smaller or a larger challenge than many people face in this life. It's just a more physically obvious one!
Now in my late 50's, while I continue to do all that I can to achieve peace and freedom from the need to overeat and other habits designed to sabotage myself, I can see that the general thrust of my life till this point has not been positive. I wish I could say that it was. The best - and not at all invaluable - thing I could say is that I am learning from my experience. For me, learning is the purpose of life and I rely on that belief to maintain my strength in the face of what is otherwise the appearance of increasing powerlessness, at times a feeling of hopelessness.
Sorry to sound so down. I'll write in other forums at other times in a more upbeat mood.
Looking forward to 'seeing' others around here,
amastie
I live in Melbourne in Australia. I joined this community when, in searching on Zen, I found a thread by David on 'Mindfulness eating' (posted I think in 2004). I am Spiritualist by belief. I'm also drawn to eastern philosophies, Zen in particular (though I cannot speak from much knowledge of it at this time). I practise a form of meditation *when* I can and it deeply impacts on my well-being and also on my ability to let go of the need to overeat - which is, physically, my biggest challenge. As a result, I am grossly overweight. It is not a smaller or a larger challenge than many people face in this life. It's just a more physically obvious one!
Now in my late 50's, while I continue to do all that I can to achieve peace and freedom from the need to overeat and other habits designed to sabotage myself, I can see that the general thrust of my life till this point has not been positive. I wish I could say that it was. The best - and not at all invaluable - thing I could say is that I am learning from my experience. For me, learning is the purpose of life and I rely on that belief to maintain my strength in the face of what is otherwise the appearance of increasing powerlessness, at times a feeling of hopelessness.
Sorry to sound so down. I'll write in other forums at other times in a more upbeat mood.
Looking forward to 'seeing' others around here,
amastie
