Grow away from the negative

There is so much going on in life.  Today is more than just about food allergies.  Today is about life. Don't be afraid to move away from people, places, or things that don't make you feel good.

We could apply this to almost any aspect of our life from food to work to relationships or anything else we may be struggling with moving on from.

I look at all the times I've been called a "run away," but also look at all those things I overcame in life (way more than I wish to divulge here.)  Despite being told I'd die because the doctors had no idea what was wrong with me medically, I overcame.

I moved away from the doctors. I moved away from the medications. I moved away from things that troubled me or didn't make me feel good.  While I loved food just about as much as living, I now wonder if I didn't love all those things because I was told to.

I was afraid that not eating everything would make me be un-liked or labeled. I loved the social experience of food. I learned to love cooking. I loved watching food put smiles on people's faces. I loved how food brought people together. I loved the love that seemed to be shared around food. But I was not an under stress eater.  I was not a closet eater.

No one ever asked me how food made me feel. Furthermore no one around me ever stopped to think how food or my environment might be impacting my medical condition. (If you could not treat it with radiation, chemotherapy, a glass full of pills or some other medically diagnosed 'thing,' then it wasn't a real condition or it was all 'pie in the sky.')  This is a very typical American attitude and one that has lingered on for ages. In fact society as a whole isn't ready to talk about how food may or may not be impacting our health.  It took a long time for food to make us sick and it may take a long time for food to make us well again.

I'm not suggesting that we move away to just get away. As my mama taught me in my teens, "No matter where you go, there you are." My daddy said something similar, "you will attract the same people and same life, if you are not aware."

For nearly 20 years,  I believed deep down, I was the problem. After a lot of work, internal reflection, and just plain action (research, elimination, pushing for answers, testing, asking questions, journals, etc.) I figured it out enough that today, I am living way better than I ever have before.

The moral of the story: Surround yourself with things, people, places, and food that make you thrive and grow. Put people in your life who don't just believe in you, but support you and your thinking. Move away from food for a second if you feel crappy. (Start with the elimination diet). Push to see different doctors. Journal your life. (Then read it and find the patterns). Break the patterns and cycles and see if you feel better. Notice how your actions impact your life. Grow away from the negative.

To your health (physical, emotional and mental),

Lara "Food Allergy Gal" Holland