My wife and I recently embarked on an eating plan known as Whole30. If you don’t know what that is, the short explanation is that it is a 1 month eating plan designed to help you figure out what foods your body does not tolerate so well. What it boils down to is cutting out all added sugar, dairy, and grains (including pseudo grains like quinoa). The end result for most people is a feeling of increased energy and overall health, plus a better understanding of how much is added to our food without us thinking about it.

But this blog post isn’t about Whole30 or my eating plan (though both are going well at day 15). No, this is about why we tell ourselves we do things. In particular the reason, “What have I got to lose?”

I think often when I have tried to start things like eating plans or reading plans or even going to hang out with friends, I have decided to go based on the thought, “What have I got to lose?” The problem with the phrase is that if I answer, “nothing,” then I am lying to myself. I have far more to lose than I could possibly imagine, both things I don’t want to lose and things I do.

The things I don’t want to lose are quite numerous. My family and others dear to me, my memory and knowledge, even the few physical items I treasure. These are all things or relative worth (I do in fact love my family more than my library) which would weigh heavily on me were I to lose them. I protect them by keeping them safe and avoiding dangerous scenarios.

The things I do want to lose are often the ones I don’t think about. I have bad habits, excess weight, traumatic memories, fears and shortcomings, all of which which interfere with my ability to live a perfectly happy life. They are things which can cripple me, yet at the same time they often elude my thoughts. I carry them along with me, even though they are heavy and consume my time and energy.

For Whole30, it wasn’t just a matter of losing weight, it was an obsession with food. It was more than just a regulated eating plan, it was detachment from emotional eating. And it wasn’t just getting healthy, it was giving up a lustful, sinful desire to ignore responsibilities and serve myself. I was forced to bring my pride and selfishness to God and lay it all before Him, allowing Him to make it completely lost to me.

With all I had to lose, how could I not?

Pax,

-Paul Hart Cochran