Rule No. 56 - Stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied.

Saint John Cassian, born 360, died 435, has a day named after him, Eastern feast day February 29. He was an ascetic, monk, theologian, and founder and first abbot of the famous abbey of Saint-Victor.

With no disrespect whatsoever, Saint John obviously didn't have a drop of Lebanese blood in him. This is a rule I would dearly love to live by, but I'm afraid that is impossible. We were taught, from the day we started eating, to finish what's on your plate. Our brains only tell us once we have eaten everything off our plates, that it is far too late, you were actually full about 20 mouthfuls ago. I am sure Saint John Cassian never over indulged in his whole life, but he obviously didn't have a family like mine that is only happy when you eating.

When people come over, we just want to feed them. Our Mom's aprons go on and within seconds there is a 7 course meal made up, and that's just for tea time. Okay, slight exaggeration, but we really do love to eat. They say the French have it down to an art, even wrote a book about it. They taste each thing they put in their mouth, appreciate it and then move on, small little baby portions. Bite size. Not us.

I understand that Saint John meant this with a deeper spiritual meaning and it was probably part of learning to fast and giving up so others can have, but I can only speak of my own understanding, which is completely literal and I ask forgiveness for that.

It would be great to stop eating while still hungry, but I don't think this rule is gonna work out for me. I'll give it a bash, but no promises.

Comments

Rule No.33 - Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day

Okay, rules are back and what a classic one! This quote is by Harry S Truman. He was the 33 rd president of America, historians call him “a controversial president”, the band Chicago wrote a song just for him and he has a commemorative holiday in his name on the 8 th May in Missouri. This is brilliant advise, not in the literal sense, well, that too, but if you having a seriously bad day, don’t make things worse by deliberately doing something that will bite you in the bum later. I did this the other day, so I am talking out of experience here. I went into a situation and then on the way out, after realising it was a bad situation, I kicked a fresh turd cause I was so mad. (again, not literally, although, that might have been a better idea in hindsight) My advise in this circumstance is to stay indoors that day until you have calmed yourself down. I’ll leave you with another quote from Truman : A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who

Rule No. 76 – Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

I was on a plane last night on my way home and after my original idea of having a really awesome nap after two extremely tough weeks being completely thrown aside thanks to my hard of hearing peeps behind me that thought it necessary to use their fists on the tray to make a point, and they had a LOT of points, while bashing my chair at the same time, i decided what better time to think about this rule instead. Use my time productively. Then, somewhere between my eyes rolling back in exhaustion and semi consciousness, i looked over to the other row and there was a lady with her wallet on her lap, sorting out her slips, throwing away her bank statements. Brilliant. Seriously though, why would you want to keep them? We all do, just in case we need it for something, but when have you ever really needed them?These days they give you the option if you want to print out the receipt or not. Do yourself and the tree's a favour and just say no. Sorted. Now love letters. Aaah, love letters. I

Rule No. 144 - Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.

To be rash is to act too hastily or without due consideration. That's the official meaning and also how I have made most decisions in my life. Luckily though a lot of those have turned out okay but that i believe is pure luck and some amazing angels watching over me. In the same breath, a couple of those decisions have pretty useless and self destructive. Taking risks only came "later" in life, but after the first big risk, I was hooked. Making calculated ones didn't come naturally though and once your first rash decision turns out to be the best risk of your life, it's hard to kick the habit. So this rule is something I need to work on and will do my best to implement into my life so that I don't repeat some of the really idiotic rash decisions I have made, especially with regards to matters of the heart. A calculated risk needs forethought, weighing outcomes and at the same time avoiding stupid actions. What you need to ask yourself first

Chasing Noodles

Search This Blog