An Experiment?… And…

FRI., JULY. 28, 2000, 7:35 AM
FARM, STUDY

It is somewhat bothersome to get up several times during the night to urinate, so… how about an experiment? It will be difficult, because you’ve developed a “pattern”, which, now, is quite like an addiction. The experiment would be: no fluids of any kind after supper. If you don’t take the fluids (mostly beer) in during those evening hours you should have no need to get up at 2… 4… to eliminate what your body doesn’t need.

Now it is true that you can’t be sure what your body needs… vs. just “wants”. You also realize that while the beer contains some alcohol it is mainly water… for you are quite aware when making it, of all the water, right from the “tap”, that you pour into that crock. Yet… what is it that your body “seems to” need… alcohol or water?

You don’t relish such an experiment, for it is only “somewhat bothersome” to get up several times during the night. You nearly always go right back to sleep, so… why the experiment? It would be a test of your addiction or dependence. Then you could decide, at your age, whether you want to develop a new pattern… of no evening drinking of any kind… or whether you can just accept this bothersome condition… as a “price” for a small pleasure.

Generally… there are no adverse consequences of this evening drinking… other than these “trips” that is My focus now. So why experiment? Just to see how it would be, in your sleeping body, if there were no fluids taken in (except your herbal tea, of course) after the evening meal. And, of course, this also is a test of your “awake” body. How does it feel, with no fluid intake?

You know that non-alcoholic fluid intake is good, because your body keeps what it needs and alerts you to eliminate the rest. So is it the fluid you should restrict… or the beer, only? And you’ll have to keep this experiment going for some time, because it is important to distinguish between what your body needs and what it just wants, because of this addictive pattern you’ve developed.

Another factor that you must consider is the probably enlarged size of your prostate and its effect on the bladder. You can’t know what this condition is, for sure, and you’re not motivated to get a new medical opinion, so you’ll just have to assume that your prostate’s size is a factor of some kind.

If, without fluid consumption in the evening, you sleep through the night without awakening with a felt need to urinate your “experiment” will have told you “something”. Or the results may be just one nocturnal “trip” … or just 2. Is the change worth the “pain” of this change? Is it important to continue to “discipline” yourself, in these elderly years? Is it exchanging one pleasure for another, hopefully better? Or is it just “discipline”… for a longer life?

You knew there would be some “spiritual content” to this Teaching… and here it is – a reminder that life, in your spirit, goes on, no matter what happens to this body. And all of this – alcohol… fluid intake… urination… discipline – is a part of your spiritual life. The big spiritual question, at any age, is: are your physical actions and thoughts about such resulting in spiritual growth… or spiritual loss? Why is age a factor? When you were young (even younger) you were a good competitor… you accomplished… you exerted discipline on yourself. It was something like a race, and this raises the question: should you keep sprinting… or at least striding… to accomplish more… to maintain your discipline…? Or is it now time to coast in, contemplating how you have been… accepting the earth life you have, as Bob Russell, but being less and less concerned about prolonging it?