A Taste for Life

 

On Oct. 27, 2016, I participated in an event called ‘A Taste for Life’ put on by the National Eating Disorder Information Centre.  A little while ago I mentioned in a post about being photographed by a professional photographer for an event that was going to happen a couple months later – this is the event my picture was going to be used for.

I decided to go to the event to find out more about the centre as well as to see how the photography project turned out.  The day before the event I suddenly got a lot of pain in my upper back.  It was just after I woke up in the morning.  Part of me was quite anxious about going to the event as my husband couldn’t come and knowing I didn’t know anyone there I almost decided not to go due to my nerves.

By the morning of the event the next day my back was starting to feel better.  I still had slight pain, but at least it wasn’t all the time.  I felt I had no excuse not to go, so I went.  When I got to the place I did a totally silly thing. I got on the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor and found out when I got there that it was the wrong floor when I talked to the receptionist.  I then waited for a while for the elevator to come and got on and pressed the second floor, which I wanted.

As it was going down it open on what I thought was the third floor as that’s the number I last saw, but realized as it closed that it was actually the second floor.  I was pressing two a bunch of times as the elevator decided to go to the ground floor.  I saw some of the same ladies I saw when I first came in and felt a little embarrassed as a few guys got on and they looked at me odd as there’s someone already on here when I was on the lowest floor.

I finally got to the second floor and got off and made sure that it was the ‘A Taste for Life’ event, which it was.  With that I was feeling even worse about attending the event.  I texted my husband about the elevator experience and told him well at least I finally got here.  I knew he really wanted me to try to have fun, but at this point I didn’t see that happening.

I checked in and as the loud music was playing around me, I stood awkwardly around a tall table.  There were some great things going on such as live music by a great violinist, servers with food, and tables on the side with food as well as free drinks being served.  There was also a silent auction being done with many different items.  On one side of the room there was a makeup artist if you wanted to get that done, as well as a place to have your photos taken.

All of this was put on as a fundraiser to help people that are coping with eating disorders.  The ‘A Taste for Life’ event was about re-embracing your senses after an eating disorder as often they can be dulled when you have one.   It was great to see all of this, but as I said before I was super anxious with not knowing anyone.  At some point I noticed an older lady sitting on a couch.  I thought to myself ‘she seems like a nice lady’ and that maybe if I sat down beside her she would want to talk to me.

I was too scared to say hello to her, but soon enough she said ‘Hi’ to me, and as we started to talk I finally was able to relax.  She couldn’t get up that much as she had trouble walking, so that suited me well as I didn’t want to leave the couches anyway.

The rest of the evening went well as I talked with this very wonderful older lady.  We laughed and talked about why we were there.  When I told her I had an eating disorder before and that I was letting them use my picture to help others to see that recovery was possible she was so excited for me to see the photo presentation.

Once it started, she cheered me on a little bit and smiled as she saw my picture. We also spoke about what life was like for us after recovery.  After the event was mostly over the lady thanked me so much for keeping her company.  I thanked her as well for keeping me company.  I realized then that God for sure had wanted me to come to this event so that I could meet this lady and to be able to help each other out through our social anxieties.

Since I had such a great time with her, it made it easier for me to connect with other new people after the lady left.  I talked with a few people about my story and they were encouraged by me, which I was glad as I knew getting past an eating disorder isn’t an easy thing.  I know I’ve said it before, but taking chances are often worth it as you often find out new things about yourself.

Patricia <3 J

Psalm 121:1-2    I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

 

 

Here’s a song about even through there are tears, that to be still and trust in our Lord’s plans for us.  That with all that we think of Him, and our own struggles that you can really find out who He really is.  That He’s more than a dream and He understands more than you would think, and you are destined to dance with Him as He brings you through any hard times, and He’s more than you think He is, and has a heart for you.

 

“More Than You Think I Am”  by Danny Gokey

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea-TRh5RYCY&list=PL3whQX319DaB37iB8NZpJe206iSdpe3kc&index=159