Because Life Gives Me So Much Juice

(From archived lianprice.com blog, circa February 2015.)

Hey gang,

Happy Hump day!! :)

I was listening to a Tony Robbins interview on my morning run, and when the topic of junk food and eating for pleasure came up, I heard him say:

“I use food primarily as fuel because life gives me so much juice…”

Wow, I thought.  What a beautiful, simple, perfect statement. 

I don’t even think he meant this to be an impactful part of the interview, he just was stating where his primary source of pleasure comes from.

Quick note: I have heard people say the whole “Food is just fuel, eat to live, don’t live to eat” bit before. To be clear, I am not on that bandwagon. I do believe as human beings we are supposed to derive pleasure from eating, and breaking bread with someone can be a very comforting and happy experience. 

But humor me here: think about what the world would be like if food was NOT our very first go–to source of pleasure. Imagine if we all woke up every single day, filled with purpose, and set about doing what we knew we were destined to do. Man, we would all be so happy and so excited, so satiated with our lives, we’d never superficially eat to fill a void again.

If we all did this, I believe the percentage of overweight people in our world would drop drastically.

And by the way, you probably know by now, that void can’t be filled with food. No matter how much we eat, no matter what new foods we try, eating will NEVER create long–term satisfaction within our lives.

So why do we keep trying to fill the void with food, when we know by now it doesn’t work? 

Because food is an easy way to escape. 

We avoid the future with food. 

We hide from our fears behind food. 

We delay crucial decisions that are waiting to be made by eating food.

Crucial decisions like the decision to act, to take hold of your destiny, to become who you have always wanted to be = The best version of you. To be proud of what you’re making of your precious life. To take hold of your fears, address them head on and say, I am no longer going to procrastinate. I am going to slay the dragons I need to, and sitting down to another mind–numbing meal is not going to be the answer for me any longer.

Yes, of course food is an obvious life–source. Unfortunately in today’s world it has also become an excellent way to self-sabotage. 

So am I asking you to stop enjoying food? Absolutely not! I savor healthy, delicious food every day. I am asking you to stop letting it replace the greater joy you could obtain from living your life on purpose, a life with “A lot of juice.” 

Make chasing dreams your primary source of pleasure. Pleasurable eating can come after. What a beautiful, simple and perfect concept. Not an easy one to carry out, but so worth it nonetheless.