Today I was getting ready to do some dishes and after a day of clearing out the fridge of a bunch of leftovers I was faced with a pretty tall pile. I didn’t want to do them in silence so I popped in my earbuds and I put on some music. Exactly what I chose isn’t relevant, but what is relevant is what I wanted, which was to feel happy and what I did, which was turned on music I listened to – and let’s be real, still listen to – when I was in middle/high school.
I’ve definitely become one of those middle-aged folks that swears music was better when I was younger. And while I really do believe that to be true (LOL), I think we all think that because of where we were in life at the time that particular music became so important to us.
In middle school and high school we are finding ourselves. We are exploring independence but are still kind of stifled by our environments, whether that’s parents or school. And that causes us to cling so hard to what makes us us. When I was younger we didn’t have social media so the people you looked up to were typically older kids in school or older siblings. Though influence existed, it was gentler and less in-your-face than it is today. You could open doors and peek inside, then close them and move on peeking into other rooms until you morphed into your own person guided by different influences you encountered.
At that time in life, despite everyone trying to tell us what to do, we felt it was important to ask ourselves: what do I actually want? What makes me happy? What do I connect with the most? With music, I like what I like and it doesn’t really matter if a lot of other people like it too because what they like has nothing to do with me. I don’t force myself to listen to music that I don’t like because that would be silly.
I feel the most like myself and true to myself when I am listening to and connecting with the music I like.
Isn’t this the same when it comes to how we act around food? What does what anyone else is doing have to do with you? Why do we let the opinions of others influence what we buy, how much money we spend, or what we value when it comes to food? If you could disconnect from all the influences you encounter when it comes to nutrition, what would you do?
I think you’d probably do whatever felt right to you. Whatever made you happy. Whatever made you feel nourished and well-fed. You’d eat what gave you energy and you wouldn’t always be stressing about if it was the right thing to do or not. Just like you trusted yourself when you were younger and exercising your independence you can STILL do that today! You have to look inward for guidance and truly connect with yourself as you are now.
No one else is going to be able to give you better advice than you can give yourself if you really connect with who you are deep down 🙂