Still sunny and cold, and today I am thinking deep thoughts for a trivial reason. Or a relatively trivial reason, anyway.
In the scheme of all things.
In general, I am an omnivore, but with certain exceptions, particularly meats. I have found, especially with my migraines, maintaining some level of meat in my diet helps keep things even. More so when it comes to exposure to certain additives.
Given that vegetarian substitutions are generally loaded with additives, they’re not feasible for me. But for a long time, I’ve used plant-based milks, first almond, and more recently, oat.
Don’t worry, we’re slowly approaching the point.
When I first tried the oat, I wasn’t sure it agreed with me but figured I needed to give it time, and time I gave it. Finally, I realized that in all the time I gave it, it never stopped making me feel off.
I wanted to use the oat milk. But what I wanted and what works for me are two different things.
There are so many stories we tell ourselves to try to bridge that gap, to throw a rope and attempt to haul the two sides closer. Excuses, explanations.
We have an image in our minds, and we may have had that image for as long as we’ve been aware. We want that image to be real, to be true, to show us the foundation of things, but eventually we have to level with ourselves and admit that in one way or another, it’s making us sick.
I use the plant milk primary in coffee, and so I got a creamer. It wasn’t for me, the flavor was far too strong, I thought, which is hard to do with vanilla, so I made one myself using powdered milk and powdered cream I had on hand.
And here, on just the second day, I already feel worlds better.
(If you’re interested, my ratio is 2 non-fat milk powder to 1 cream. Add a bit of water, enough for a paste, and mix until smooth; if you want you can make a measuring cup’s worth by adding more water after it’s blended or do it cup of coffee to cup. Worked well. You could add sugar to the mix too, I think. And cocoa powder possibly if you want. In fact you could probably use it to make your own instant cocoa, but I haven’t tried that.)
OK out of the literal again, it’s easy to ignore the subtle and sometimes not subtle clues that tell us how we feel about something, even if we don’t know it ourselves. We let the shoulds override the feels, and through that, sometimes inflict unnecessary pain.
Discomfort isn’t merely an inconvenience. It’s a message, from us to us, in a language only we can hear. At a pitch only we can hear.
If we choose to listen.
Let go, if only for a moment, of what you think you want. Because what you want and what works for you might be two very different things.
And there’s nothing wrong with it.
In fact, if you heed those signals, you might find you feel better than you have in a long time.
Have a great Wednesday.
A Bit to Read 
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