When We're Hungry...

When We’re Hungry…

There is nothing so painful than being hungry and not having any food to eat. I’ve experienced the feeling a few times in my life. I’ve also experienced fasting for one to five days. A very interesting phenomenon happens after you overcome the first couple hunger attacks. You actually stop being hungry. You get thirsty, if I remember correctly, but hunger ceases. In fact, when you decide you want to eat again, you must decidedly and slowly eat small amounts of easily digestible food; otherwise, you’ll make yourself sick.

When I was in my late twenties, I set out on a spiritual quest. Part of my journey was trying to isolate the passions and hungers of the physical body. When I fasted, my physical desires greatly diminished. I can understand why monks and students of spirituality find some great solace in fasting.

Hunger is not just a reaction that happens when our bodies need nourishment, though. Hunger happens in many different aspects of our lives. We can be hungry for love, for fame, for truth, for God, for intelligence, for sex, or for wisdom—to name a few. But hunger, by definition, is a strong desire or craving, not just a desire for nutrition.

Hunger for love, for instance, can feel like a deep, gnawing pain in your gut, similar to food hunger. A hunger for fame can lead to making choices that compromise your authentic self. A hunger for sex can lead to disease and promiscuity.

However, an insatiable urge for something can also be put there by Spirit God. For instance, a strong need to be loved or for sexual intimacy, can lead you to a search for a compatible date. That meeting could lead to the love of your life, if you can separate intention from hunger, direction from urge.

Fairly recently, I had become single after a year-long try at making an anxious-avoidant relationship work. If you have an avoidant lover in your life, you might as well cash in your chips. The likelihood of the relationship working is not in your favor. So, I let go.

I decided to wait for a few months to date again. What made me begin to date again, was a strong desire for intimacy. I could have done what a lot of people do after a bad break-up. I could have looked for a casual sexual experience to appease my needs, but I understood that my desire was much deeper than physical. Personally, I think that most of hungers are not just skin deep. I didn’t need a quick fix, and you probably don’t either. In fact, I don’t think I ever really needed a temporary bandage for my intimate desires. I am what a lot people call a serial monogamist. I find one person to love. Then I pour out my amazing love on that very lucky individual. LOL

My friend Sharon has this constant hunger for knowledge. Maybe it’s just for continual growth toward something work related. But she finds a way to channel this energy into something that is always a palatable choice. Her last endeavor has ended up becoming a trip toward another Masters Degree. At fifty-four, she is finishing her paper as I write this, making her more valuable in the work place.

A hunger for fame may start out to be a strong desire to sing in public. You may realize that the only work that makes you feel whole is to be singing. But when you break it down, you realize that the singing isn’t the entire deal. The reward is mostly the applause at the end of the song. The reward very rarely is the money involved, especially in Nashville, where money for singing is a thing of the past, unless you’re a famous recording artist.

Soon, a person hungry for fame, may realize that his/her true hunger is a true desire to be loved, honored, and appreciated by peers. If this is true, then the feelings you get from applause, can probably be captured in other ways in your life, if you find a divine purpose for your talents and knowledge.

I started out with a Christian record deal and ended up a professional writer, vocal coach, yogi, life coach, and clinical hypnotherapist. I still love to sing and act, but I find that it is easier to appease my artistic desires if I look for ways to use my artistic talents for things like singing at church or in Community Theater. I have an acting agent, and I love auditioning, but I don’t depend on my art for my sole support.

So, “when we’re hungry,” as the song says, “love… attention to our true needs, and a strong desire to understand our spiritual will… will keep us alive.”

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Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com.

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