In speaking to a few parents concerned about what their children eat, I was reminded of how much my actions directly model good food choices to my children. It reminded me of a story I heard about the Buddha:

A woman and her son visit the Buddha at the temple. The woman asks the Buddha in his divine wisdom, to tell her son to stop eating sweets. The buddha asks them to return in a week. A week passes, and they return to consult the buddha. The buddha tells the young boy, “Stop eating sweets.” and then dismisses them. A young monk, having observed the interaction over the last week, asks the buddha, “Master, why did you have that woman and her boy come back in a week, when you could have told him the same reply, the week previously?” The buddha responds by telling his young monk, “One week ago, I was eating sweets. To tell the boy to stop eating sweets, I had to stop eating sweets first myself!”

I sometimes get questions as to how to get family members on board about eating whole, unprocessed vegetables, but find that those who are asking are not eating these things themselves. I sometimes get questions on how to get another family member to stop drinking a bottle of wine every night, but find that those who are asking are not willing to stop or reduce their consumption of wine every night. Our children learn what is proper, acceptable, and healthy from our own behaviors and from the actions we take to be proper, acceptable, and healthy TO ourselves. We owe it to ourselves and to those who are learning from us to put forth the effort and first “be the change we want to see in the world”

• This topic was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by AdventureMarc.