Taking Precepts

Last Friday I made some pretty serious promises that I vowed to keep from 6.30am till sunrise the next day:

– one vegetarian meal before 1pm
– no stimulants ie. coffee, tea or alcohol
– no lies.

Well, refraining from lying wasn’t so much of a problem as the first two. Most of the time I grab a bite even before the stomach sends a message to the brain to tell me that I’m hungry. That’s what you call foresight!

What came as a surprise was the day actually went by quickly. “When’s bedtime, I need to sleep my way till sunrise to eat. It’s only 1 hour..oh no! 5 more hours to go” was what I expected the brain tape-recorder to be playing for the day. But no, there were even no dizzy spells or absolute hunger.

I have learnt some powerful lessons from this experience :

1. I’m not as greedy as I thought I was,
2. I don’t need coffee to get me through lazy afternoons,
3. I feel contented being in a bar drinking Perrier instead of Guinness Stout and
4. I do have control over my actions.

So now each time I sneak into the kitchen for a snack, chances are I exit with just a glass of water..