The weather was very dry up north last weekend, which made it very comfortable for walking around and packing up dry tents, bags, and clothes. But the sun was hot as well and as I walked, I sweat. We were heading to a campsite about 3 miles away. On the way there we passed a few creeks that were as dry as a bone. When we got to camp and surveyed our water situation we realized that we were going to have to monitor how much water we drank: which we did.
As the night went on the bottles looked more tantalizing, but we resisted the temptation. The next day we hiked until we were by a stream. When we finally sunk our filters in the water, we couldn’t get enough water. All through the afternoon we drank, and drank, and drank. It wasn’t until late in the evening that I felt I had gotten my fill.
It was surprising how strong the desire was for something I couldn’t have. The body craved it and the mind desired it. Focusing on how much I was missing it only made it worse.
In my past I denied myself things to move towards a more spiritual plane, but I remember always fighting the urges, and when I succumbed, I would be angry with myself.
Instead of denying, I have found it helpful to ask myself “Do I really want this”, rather than saying “I can’t have this”. It takes a lot of energy to fight desire, and a lot of times I succumbed because I just got tired of resisting.
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