No WHAT Without WHY

Wants are going to fizzle out, or go nowhere, without WHYS.

What do you want? Why do you want it?

I always wanted to be happier, healthier, fitter – but I never stuck to it until I had a real reason, and one that was really important to me – or even a life or death thing, like changing my diet.

I had no degenerative disease (that I know of, but things percolate for years before showing up, usually) but I was so mentally distressed that I was at a point of wanting to kill myself, which had never crossed my mind before. I didn’t really want to die but sometimes it was so incessant that I really believed I did.

So there was my reason – I wanted to live, and in order to do that, I had to get healthy, and I knew my diet was the place to start.

But now, my goal is to be even healthier. In fact, last night I realized my goal was to be “Healthy as FUCK.”

But why? Why am I suddenly able to stick to an exercise routine, especially jogging/running which tends to bore me after 5 minutes? I can push past it now and enjoy it.

This is a really good thing to break down for ANY aspiration you may have – be like an obnoxious toddler and ask WHY until you get to the DEEPEST reason.

I already know why I want to eat well. So, why do I want to be fit?

To be healthier, leaner, stronger, more youthful. For longevity.

Why?

So I can live longer to experience more. So I can say YES to anything and be able to keep up. So I can look great for a very long time. So I will be self-sufficient and mobile until I die. So I can escape people who want to harm me. So I can be capable and independent.

Why?

So I can experience more. To be happy. So I can take part in more things without getting tired. Self-confidence.

Why?

So I feel like I am really living.

Why?

To feel free.

Generally all my goals come down to the same thing: Freedom.

And why do I want freedom? Because I want to really live – this flips back and forth: really living, freedom, really living, freedom, etc.

So I know those are my base reasons for doing pretty much everything.

I learned this method a long time ago in a little class I took, and we ended up writing our “Why” words on wooden boards (mine was Freedom), and then over a half hour we revved ourselves up and learned how to break the boards with our hands. Once you do that, you feel like you can do anything! I kept that board for years, and it was a good reminder that my ultimate goal was freedom, so I can do all the things I REALLY love to do.

I am not completely free – true freedom in North America is a complete illusion – but I am definitely on my way, and I have a lot more freedom than most people I know, because I focus on it.

To know the WHY is a good way to figure out if your desires and pursuits are even worthy of your time. Your base reasons may be completely frivolous and you won’t even know it – you may realize that you want something for such a backwards reason – like buying shoes because you want to be loved, or wanting to go sky-diving so people think you are brave, but those are not really things you want to do for your SELF.

So what is your WHY?

Raw vs. Cooked: Pain and Pleasure List

Why I Don’t Eat Cooked Foods.

+ They make me flush and feel hot
+ I sleep horribly
+ I get massive bouts of gas
+ I need salt to make it taste good, and salt sucks
+ It causes leukocytosis and my body is like WTF?!
+ It doesn’t have any nutritional value
+ It disrupts good digestion
+ It makes me feel tired instead of energetic, so I don’t feel like exercising
+ It gives me brain fog
+ I don’t like cheating or sneaking around, acting like I’m doing something wrong – because I know that I am. So really I am hiding it from myself.
+ If I have one bite, I can’t stop. It’s addictive.
+ They make me bloat, BIG TIME
+ They make me break out
+ They take away my glow
+ I feel sluggish
+ I don’t feel as vibrant
+ I feel guilty
+ I ALWAYS, EVERY TIME feel like puking it up. Not due to guilt, but to just feeling gross. This is BAD. The worst symptom of all.
+ Seriously, the gas. EMBARRASSING.
+ Makes me get mucus build-up. I always get a runny nose.
+ Gut-ache!
+ Acidic response in the body, and on the teeth.
+ Life seems less fun.
+ Nightmares.
+ Brief, stabbing intestinal pains.
+ The food is DEAD.
+ I feel irritable and want to lie down.
+ Less motivated.
+ Sallow skin.
+ Rashy area on my cheek comes back.
+ Urge to pick at my skin returns – EVERY TIME! BAD.
+ Grumpy.
+ I feel heavy.
+ Constipation.
+ I’ll be less inspiring to others if I don’t stick to my lifestyle.
+ I have a more angry demeanor.
+ I feel BLAH.
+ Unhappy, gurgling stomach, even from something completely simple.
+ I feel pukey.
+ I’m not as committed to myself and my goals when I slip-up.
+ After a few bites it is always DRY, BLAND, and UNDERWHELMING. It’s never worth it, ever.
+ It is a waste of MONEY. You’re paying for dead, nutritionally-deficit food,so you’re paying for nothing except everything listed above.

WHY I eat raw food!

+ I feel jubilant, naturally!
+ Lean bod!
+ No bloating.
+ I feel light, and fast.
+ I sleep really easily, and deeply.
+ I am fully committed to great health and a rad life.
+ It’s fast and simple.
+ It’s inspiring to others.
+ I feel accomplished.
+ It’s more delicious.
+ It is insanely nutritionally dense.
+ I feel naturally friendly.
+ I smile more.
+ I am more patient.
+ I feel like running around and moving my body.
+ I’m kinder to other people.
+ I am more open and loving.
+ I attract happier friends into my life.
+ I feel super clear, mentally
+ I have more imagination and drive.
+ I feel SUPER self confident.
+ My skin radiates.
+ More youthful appearance.
+ No worries of illness, short or long-term. No colds, flu, or degenerative diseases.
+ I don’t get bladder infections, ever.(used to be chronic)
+ Strong immune system.
+ I am well hydrated.
+ My digestion is awesome (5-6 times a day for #2, and lots of urine, clear).
+ It’s easy to find fruit, ANYWHERE.
+ Super vivid dreams
+ Super motivated
+ Able to assimilate all nutrients due to lack of mucus.

There are endless reasons for staying on a raw vegan lifestyle, and tons of reasons to give up dead, cooked foods. No matter what, up the percentage of raw foods in your diet and you will REAP the benefits! They are endless!

This is a list I wrote a while ago when I was having some cravings during winter time and slipped up – recently I have felt urges again and so wanted to revisit this list to remind me to stick to my fresh, ripe, raw, whole, organic fare

A Purpose For When You Feel There’s No Point

Aimee Mullins

Are you obese, or depressed, or really sick?

Do you feel like you have no purpose, do you think you are useless, whatever, no good, a waste, that you have nothing to offer anyone or have no purpose in life? That you are just gonna waste away and nothin’ you can do about it?

I can tell you a purpose. You can be an inspiration.

For me, who is already slim and fairly fit and very healthy (I wasn’t always!), I am most inspired by the massive transformations people have. I need to continually be inspired in order to remember how important being healthy is, how important LIVING is. I am most inspired by people who are told “You will need to take these pills forever” or “You are going to die unless you have gastric bypass surgery” or “You will never walk again” or countless other things – and then those people prove everyone wrong by IGNORING what EVERYONE says and by believing in themselves. They find one SHRED of love for themselves and hold on to it like it is life support, and they do one little bit at a time, until they get better, and better, and better, and they feel more self love, and people start noticing, and the onlookers spur them on, and so that momentum grows, and then those people start being heroes, and you can be one of those people, too.

If you are really at the END of your rope – a miserable curmudgeon, someone who is extremely overweight, someone with eating disorders, someone on massive amounts of pills for an “incurable” disease – you can change all of this and be a beacon of hope for others, to show them it CAN be done, and there is ALWAYS room for more inspiration, there is ALWAYS room for more people that show us what can be done when we ignore the bullshit and follow our hearts.

The thing is, even when what you are working on healing is “invisible” (like mental issues), people around you will notice a change – you get this glow about you. Even if you are not losing weight rapidly, your skin will start to shine and your demeanor will be sparkling. You become a magnet for good things, which becomes a whirling dervish of positive vibes. They keep coming, and that’s what makes it even easier to continue.

Your purpose, now, is to transform for the good of everyone, not just you. Start where you are, take photos, take videos, and chronicle your journey. It makes no difference if it takes days, months, or years – It will uplift someone so much that they will make positive changes in their own lives – beauty and love transform others, and then it goes on and on and on, endlessly.

THAT is a grand purpose to hold in your mind, and when you accomplish your goals, you will be free and clear and know what you are meant to do in life. In the meantime, be an inspiration.

One last thing: temporary slip-ups are not failures. Even I have days where I don’t adhere to my highest aspirations – I brush off and keep going. That is the secret of succeeding – even the most amazing people have days and moments they are not reaching the bar they have set – just try again, and you will reach it.