Overeating, overconsumption, overindulging, even overspending … it all falls in the same category, in my opinion. But why do we do it? Where is the source of it? At times, it may be due to boredom. But above all, I believe the source of it is emotional in nature.

Thinking about this topic has made me want to ask: What is it we are trying to replace in our lives with food? What empty holes and space are we trying to fill up with food that we can’t in other ways in our lives? I think taking a deeper look at our eating habits, our consumption habits, and even our spending habits is really a great way to look more closely at our emotional state.

Food is a primary example of this. What is it we are eating for exactly? Are we eating for sustenance and health or for emotional fulfillment that we are not otherwise receiving or allowing ourselves to receive? By looking at the foods we eat, it should be very simple to answer that question.

I believe that we as a nation have been taught so very wrong about what food was designed to do for us and how to utilize it to achieve optimum health with it, rather than using it just to feel “full.” And somewhere along the way, I believe we started to translate the message wrong and started to use food for emotional fulfillment instead.

You can look at almost anything in the same way – money, television, any addictive substance or activity, really. Are we purchasing or taking part in activities because we truly need them, or for some level of emotional fulfillment? In truth, it doesn’t take much to answer this question honestly, no matter how hard it is to be truthful with ourselves. And while there is nothing wrong with utilizing things for an “escape” when we need to, it can become a problem when we are utilizing things to AVOID facing the problems that need to be dealt with in our lives.

I think it’s a call for us to look at our lives in the areas where we do not feel fulfilled, and instead of eating, shopping, spending money, or even watching TV, spend time working on those areas. But most often, we really don’t want to do that. It can be much too difficult for most of us to do that. And there’s a good reason for that. It can be painful. It’s much easier to find a distraction from what is not working in our lives than it is to face the difficulty and try to improve it.

But what’s the alternative?

The alternative is to stay where we are with the same level of difficulty and unhappiness in our lives. The problem with that is that it won’t last forever. While there may be some comfort in staying oblivious to the truth temporarily, eventually it will cause us enough difficulty that we cannot continue being blind to what needs improvement in our lives, even if that is years down the road.

We as human beings are designed to hold energetic vibrations comfortably and for as long as possible, but sometimes when change is calling to come into our lives, we simply cannot avoid it. This is when chronic health problems become no longer manageable, or our tendency to spend too much money gets out of control, or our arguments with loved ones really start to weigh us down. These are all calls for us to make a real, tangible physical change in our lives that will improve it for the better, even if making that change means looking at some deep emotional pain we have been hiding away for entirely too long.

And while it’s not always quite so easy to look at our past and what is weighing us down emotionally and keeping us from stepping into who we truly are, it is often very necessary so that we can move forward and have much better things for ourselves and our lives. And I promise you that when we do, while it may be uncomfortable at first, it DOES get better, and we are truly grateful when we come out on the other side a much better, happier, and healthier person.