Overfeeding: Day 24

When we were kids, my brothers and I had a fish tank with some goldfish. The tank sat in the corner of the family room, by the entrance to a foyer. Every time we passed by the fish tank, which was every time we went to the bedrooms, we would naturally want to do something with the fish. As there is really only one thing to do with goldfish, the goldfish would get fed nearly every time one of us went by.

The goldfish never lived for very long in our house.

Our neighbors, on the other hand, kept their fish tank on a counter so the kids could see it but not get into it. Their fish got fed once a day, and eventually, their little goldfish grew into a gigantic goldfish that took over the tank. In fact, this fish from the 80’s was still alive when I visited for my ten-year high school reunion in 2000.

Sometimes, in our efforts toward self-improvement, we overfeed ourselves. This is where I am today, and as a result, I am in the middle of a serious bloat. I am poring over books and online articles, trying to delve further into “what my truth is” or “what my blocks are,” and of course, how to fix them. But there is a point at which we become saturated, overfed, and bloated, and just like after a good, heavy meal, we are full of good information, but just so much of it that it doesn’t make sense.

Some of us are information junkies, which isn’t a bad thing. But if you’ve ever gathered so much on a subject you enjoyed that it became unexciting, or reached a point that it didn’t feel like any of it was helping you make a decision or take action, then you know the information bloat that comes from being overfed.

So how do we resolve being overfed with information? Well, if I had overeaten at a meal, I would take a Mylanta. And if I didn’t have a Mylanta on hand, I would have to take a break from eating, take a walk, and pretty much give myself time to digest.

Being such a "doing" culture, it can be difficult to step away from a situation and give it time to resolve itself. Once we’ve done the feeding and watering, we now have to give ourselves time to grow. Out of frustration for results, we've been trained to get our hands in it again and do something. But that's like picking at a scab every day because you have to see if the cut is healing.

Let go - and let grow!