I have been a bit surprised by the reaction to my post last week which mentioned Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, and Luke Skywalker. Apparently, the message received by my small (but may I add, dedicated) audience was that I was comparing myself to these three great fictional characters (yes, "HP" fans, I hate to break it to you, but Harry Potter is not really real, he is a fictional character in a book). This could not be further from the truth. The reality is this: I am not like Harry, or Frodo, or Luke, and I would never compare myself to them. Instead, sugar (for me) is like Vodemort or the ring or the Empire.
My point is this: sugar is probably the greatest challenge that I have faced in my life, not simply because it is this big addition that I have, but because it plays with my mind as well and wrecking havoc on my body. There are seriously times when I hear the sugar calling out to me: "It's okay, just one cookie won't hurt you. You can do it, you have the self-discipline to just have one." A plateful of cookies later, I have not only consumed a full cup of sugar (that's about 775 calories, by the way) but I also feel terrible about myself. The saddest thing about situations like this is that you can have all the self-will in the world, you can have lofty goals of looking like a Greek god and being healthy enough to live until you are 105, but when it comes time to make those day-to-day decisions, you screw up. Looking great and being healthy are about daily, even hourly, choices. It is the long, slow process of change that sugar, or Volemort, or Darth Vader, do not want to see happen in your life.
That, in my mind, was what was so terrible about the villains in these fine stories: It wasn't just that they wanted to kill the hero, they spent a good amount of time just messing with their heads. Melanie and "Anonymous," as HP fans, you should know this from The Order of the Phoenix. Don't you remember how Vodemort kept getting into Harry's head? Darth Vader did the same to Luke and Sauron did it to Frodo. For me, sugar is no different. It gets into my head, it makes me do stupid things, and then it leaves me to wallow in my own misery. Am I a hero? No. I am just a lonely man, waking up every day to the pain of doing battle against an unseen enemy. Do I want to even be doing this? Of course not. I don't like pain any more than anyone else. But, as the wise Albus Dumbledore said: "[S]uffering like this proves you are . . . a man! This pain is part of being human . . . [and] the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."
Well . . . . . maybe.
2 comments:
Jeefry Merchannt. U r so obnoxious. I hope you dream about a giant cake-shaped dementor sucking off your face and the only patronus you can create is a giant bag of splenda.
Although I did check the back of my jarred spaghetti sauce (which I haven't eaten any of since Dec cuz I like making my own now). Anyway, holy crap: 80 calories for .5c due to all the added sugar. Why so much sugar in spaghetti sauce?
Also, for curiosity's sake: are you actively trying to lose weight with this venture? Combining the no-sugar thing with healthy eating & exercise? Or fighting your sugary Vooldimoart your biggest goal?
You seriously spelled Voldemort wrong again!! I think you might need to add sugar back into your diet. It has obviously messed with your head to the point that you can't spell.
I also agree with Melanie, I hope you do have a sugar filled nightmare. Only I hope it's a boggart that comes at you as some of your delicious mint brownies! Good luck with that.
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