“My Overeating represents my shame about myself and about my life.” If this resonates with you then this post may be for you.

If you have this recognition then it is very probable that you are going in the right direction. I wish others had this conscious recognition too. 

What does my overeating represent in my life? What is the mechanism?

Overeating is an addiction like other addictions. It may or may not be as physically destructive as some others but for the mind, it is the same type of thought pattern.

The “job” of an addiction is to help you with the pain that you are feeling. It does it by suppressing it with the “help of a substitute” so that it is not that painful. In our mind we have a sense of lack, we have a need. And we want to satisfy that need. 

So why shame?: That sense of lack that I mentioned is a sense that there is something not good enough, something is missing (certainly not the food). Since you are reading this article, I assume that you already intrinsically feel the connection. If you look deeply – maybe give yourself a pause, or meditate on what you are feeling – you may recognize that you think that there is something wrong with you actually. You think that you are not good enough.

Luckily this is not the case. There is nothing wrong with you. But this article is about the recognition of shame and a little bit about the mechanism. Not about the ways to let it go. That goes well beyond the scope here.

Anyways, here is a little appetizer (bad joke, sorry.):

What is on the other side?

The lack of an unrealistic thought that you are not good enough – and thus the emergence of the true perception of your real self: Which is the knowledge that you are valuable and essentially healthy. Which brings peace of mind, healthy pride, and a whole lot of healthy behaviors, opportunities, etc.

If you believe in God (in any way you relate) then the other side is the valuing of God. When you value yourself, you value God. It is the same thing.