Are You "Eating" What You Want?

What do you crave? I don't mean that Twix bar you want right now, I mean your deepest desire. And how do we really even know? In a world where our senses can become confused, hijacked, and over stimulated, it's sometimes hard to whittle it down to the truest desires. But here is how to hone in on your real desire.

First, what hijacks our desires? One big factor includes being told what to want. Seem like an exaggeration? Consider Top 40 lists for "best" songs, fashion trends of "looks for the season," and suggested YouTube videos based on what is trending. We are convinced to want things we may not even want. It's the emotional equivalent of the eating disorder Pica, in which people compulsively eat potentially toxic things like paint chips! 

But why are our hearts moved by this in the first place? Is everyone convinced by these things? Actually, no. Kinda like with Pica, a person's body isn't craving it; their distorted senses are. What makes us susceptible to being pulled by trends may be a deep down longing for something great, and uncertainty of how to acquire it. We want to be known and loved, and we should be! But we may grasp after the most popular thing because we mistake it for our ticket to large scale appreciation. Or maybe we don't want to stand out as weird, so we follow the mainstream. 

For me, I can trace it back to 7th grade. I was never a trendoid, delighted to wear my peasant tops and flowy long skirts. But when some relationships became toxic due to my taking a stand on some things, standing out as unique became painful. I slowly retreated into trends because it seemed safer. I also retreated right into dressing like a young woman I did not want to be, garnering attention I didn't want to have. I had no idea this was even happening as it was a slow fade, but thankfully an older friend told me in high school that seeing me and knowing me were 2 different things. It made me rethink how I presented myself, and it caused me to evaluate a LOT until my life began to represent the real me.

Are there ways in which your desires are wrapped around past hurts? Or maybe you've just never considered the real you under the trends, and you'd like to explore. It's a journey worth taking, because discovering you means the people around you get treated to a Gem! The way you love people, the brilliance you bring, and the ideas only you possess will change the world. So take stock of where you are in this, and ask God to heal anything painful. Then awaken the gold in you that the world's been missing!