The Connection Between Doing and Feeling

When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln is saying that he has a sensitive internal compass. He recognized at some point in his life that his behavior could affect his feelings. Often we are driven to act based on how we feel.

The beauty of a daily examen is that we get to check it all out - our thoughts from the day, our feelings, and our actions. Over time, we begin to make connections.

Early on in my recovery I began to notice that certain foods made me feel better than others. This was a big change from the obsession of believing that eating was for sissies.

I learned that a steady blood sugar allowed me to stand up for sustained periods of time without toppling over. This was no small insight for a person struggling with an eating “ism”.

I discovered the joy of learning to notice hunger without judging it as the enemy.

All this seems so obvious to those who have never struggled with self-starving.

Over the years I have heard so many and varied stories of how we lose touch with our legitimate needs. Sometimes getting back in touch with them, and learning how to address them in a healthy way, is as simple as getting in touch with our thoughts, feelings, and actions while paying attention to how they can interplay with one another.