A blessing in disguise
On the second day of the new year, I got food poison from eating something from a food stall at a nearby shrine. It was brutal. I was up all night trying to get rid of the poison. Once it was out of my system, I immediately felt better but exhausted. Having a strong stomach, I rarely had any problems. However, I did recall towards the end of the year, I was feeling the presence of my stomach. That meant it was already giving me signs of fatigue, but I ignored it and continued feasting. While lying in bed, coincidentally, I heard an interesting anecdote regarding the Buddha and his eating habits. When the Buddha first started gaining attention, the other spiritual leaders were suspicious of him. So one of them sent a spy to see if he was the real deal. The spy came back and said indeed he was. The leader asked for the reason, and the spy responded by saying that it was the way he ate. He said he ate in small portions and carefully chewed until the food was dissolved. Furthermore, he ate just enough to satisfy his hunger. While listening to this, I reflected on how I had been eating. Rarely is my full attention on the eating process. I’m always thinking of something else. So I decided to give this humble eating practice a try. The result, an increased level of satisfaction! I guess it wasn’t so bad getting food poisoning after all.
