Hungry for Change: Part 3... what helps the hunger?

After some encouraging texts/notes from a few others who have undertaken this challenge, I was anticipating a better Day 3. And, don't ya know it, they were right! Actually, things got better even sooner than that.

We got home around 5:30pm on Day 2, and could hardly wait til our proposed 6:30pm mealtime. Instead of spending time snacking or preparing food, we just drank tea and read books... for some reason, we didn't even feel motivated to flip on the TV or go online. There was this draw towards simplicity and quiet, and it actually felt good and refreshing. Dinner went quickly, and the hunger remained. We busied ourselves cleaning the house, anticipating a visit from some new friends/neighbors who had planned to come by and play games with us. I had awkwardly explained to one of these new friends that we couldn't do a dinner date with them because we were doing this "rice and beans thing" as part of a church project to identify with the poor, downplaying it and not wanting to make us sound all holy and "better than thou." She was not put off at all, and actually thought it was pretty cool.

In the end, it turned out that going to their place was a better fit, so we walked to their house as the final light of the day was disappearing, and it felt good to move around. My body had already been feeling lighter and more taut, this sense that I wasn't carrying around extra anything- I felt more sensitive to movement, touch, and overall, just lighter. As we arrived, the first questions from our new friends were all about what this challenge was and why we were doing it. It was encouraging to hear how excited they were about it. The gal even said she was intrigued to try it, which is so great, as she isn't part of any church and yet she felt drawn to it and not freaked out that it was a church-related thing. Being with them for a few hours seemed to help stave off the hunger, and we thoroughly enjoyed drinking tea and chatting the night away. Leaving their house back out into the cold night, I almost forgot about the hunger. This was my first hint about what helps the hunger.

Waking up into Day 3, I wasn't even hungry. Something felt like it had adjusted in me, and I couldn't even eat the full portion of oatmeal that morning, saving it for a midday snack. I spent most of the day with people - in a bible study, in a few meetings, chatting to a friend - and I slowly realized that being with people and engaging myself with them seemed to help my mind forget about the hunger. Is this what helps the hunger? Interacting with others and not being so focused on the self, perhaps it averts my minds natural tendency to focus on myself, my needs, my wants. It's surprising how drastically different Day 3 was from Day 2. Granted, I was (and am) still craving food and wish I could eat whatever I want. This need for getting exactly what I want when I want it made me realize how truly self-focused I have become in this area of my life (and other areas, too) without even realizing it. I loved what the Day 2 Trade as One email had to say about this:

"As you have realized by now, Hungry for Change eliminates most of your food choices for five days. This feels strange and counter-cultural! On top of that, because we’d cooked up the rice and beans in advance and were just getting the daily portions out of the freezer, meal preparation took less than five minutes. This meant that the pursuit of food, the decisions involved, and the pleasure that it brings, were almost completely eliminated from our thoughts during the day. It certainly felt freer and simpler, and yet it felt strange not to make all those choices. The food intake had been decided for us and wasn’t designed all around our own personal choices and desires."

In this process, I am becoming very aware of how much I want to control and have myriad options at my finger tips at all time - with food and with many other aspects of life. Because I am purposely limiting myself right now, I am seeing just how many choices we have for food (and other stuff) on a daily basis. I am noticing the restaurants, the coffeeshops, the grocery stores and all the choices available within them to those who have the means. Is this necessary for us, these thousands of options? Is it good for us? The simplicity of this "fast" and the way its affecting my thinking is causing me to consider that perhaps there is another way...