Look at the positives!

My darling Pearl said this to me today. This is because I spent most of today complaining. I suppose it isn’t a surprise, considering how little I did to prepare for this fast, whether spiritually or physically. I just keep telling myself that the first few days are always the hardest.

The biggest struggle was giving up coffee; it wasn’t until I abstained from my usual two-cup routine that I understood how much it boosted my energy. Without my morning and after-lunch cups, I felt foggy and half-conscious all day.

Another struggle was getting rid of meat and dairy. My darling Pearl and I have been eating chicken basically every day for the past month and half, so the absence of any sort of animal products was difficult. I am hoping that adding more nuts and perhaps legumes will help ease this transition, as I was only eating fruit through lunch today and felt kind of empty and a sort of sweetness overload as a result.

God, please forgive my complaining and weak spirit. All it takes is a little change in my diet and I turn into a tantrum-throwing 2-year-old, angry at the gall of his parents asking him to eat his vegetables. I know that, for me, the focus of this time is not supposed to be what I’m ingesting physically, but what I’m ingesting spiritually. Let every groan in my stomach and my spirit be a reminder of what I truly need—a relationship with You.