Life Shows Us The Way

I have become increasingly interested in nutrition throughout my life. I am now at a state in my life where I take my diet and nutrition seriously, watching what I eat, when I eat it, and how I eat the food I prepare for myself. I rarely purchase store-bought / ready made food, opting instead to make my own food. I don’t eat processed sugars. I am conscious of the dietary components of the foods I eat. My interest in food and nutrition has grown to the point where I have decided to head back to university in January to study Human Kinetics and delve more deeply into the relationship among human anatomy, physiology, exercise, and nutrition.

As noted above, I have moved away from eating processed sugars. If I want or need to add sweetness to the food I cook or bake, I will substitute sugar for honey or maple syrup. Honey has been in the news a lot in the past few years, questioning its nutritional value and health benefit. I’m not going to get into the concerns about honey; all to say there are some healthier alternatives to honey that can add some sweetness to your food, if desired.

My primary breakfast food is oatmeal. I add nuts, raisins (for sweetness), fresh fruit, and fresh berries most mornings. Until recently, I had always added a teaspoon of honey to my morning oatmeal; occasionally I would substitute maple syrup for honey, but I find maple syrup too sweet sometimes.

On a recent shopping excursion, I picked up a container of molasses for a recipe I was planning to make. I arrived home, opened up the cupboard to put the molasses away, and realized I already had a full container of molasses in the cupboard. “Hmmm,”…I thought. “I don’t use molasses very much (in my cooking or baking). “I don’t want it to go to waste.”, I thought. “How could I use molasses on a more regular basis?” I asked myself. “Why not try it in my morning oatmeal, instead of honey.”

So, the next morning I tried some molasses in my oatmeal, instead of honey. As I was enjoying my oatmeal, out of curiosity, I grabbed the honey and oatmeal containers and started to read the nutritional labels on the products. I was quite surprised to read that not only did the molasses contain a quarter less sugar per serving, but the molasses contained far more vitamins and nutrients than honey. I did some further research online and learned just how much more healthy molasses is than honey. Needless to say, I have switched to using molasses in my morning oatmeal.

Enough of the talk about food and nutrition. That’s not what this article is about…

Life has a way of showing us the way. Life has a way of leading us where we need to go. I think it’s ‘very’ interesting that with my increasing interest in health and nutrition, that one day I make the Alzheimer’s-like mistake of picking up a duplicate container of molasses. Actually, it wasn’t a mistake at all! I think it was life’s way of making me aware of something that was aligned with my heart’s intention at the time. I think this happens all the time in our lives. Some may call it serendipity. Some may call it coincidence. Some may call it ‘dumb luck’! I think of it as Divine intervention.

Robert Meagher has been ordained as an Interfaith Minister and certified as a Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Therapist. Robert is the Founder and Spiritual Director for Spiritual Guidance and Co-Founder of the Center for Human Awakening.