Numb The Hunger Instead of Feeding It

Bismillah.

 

I said I'd read the moments (read: post), to learn both English, and the content of it.

So I read, and I read. Try to minimize my reaction, because I didn't want to cause disturbance in the notification.

Until I stopped at a particular moment. It is about the comfort zone, that comfort zone that could kill us.

That death is actually happening slowly.

So here's the paragraph that made me stopp, ask questions, get the answer, but still stuck... I feel like I need to write it out first before I can move on and read other moments.

"One does not wake up dead; it happens slowly. A skipped workout. A conversation avoided. A dream shelved. Then comes the couch; the TV; the drink; the scrolling. Watching others fight while doing nothing. Numbing the hunger instead of feeding it. Someone does not lose the fire all at once; they smother it with comfort."

My initial question after reading that paragraph, why would "numb the hunger instead of feeding it" is also counts as comfort.

Shouldn't comfort mean that you immediately eat something when you feel hunger? Or always eat sweets or junk food even though you know that it is bad for your health?

 

Or do I understand it wrong? So I googled what does it mean, "numbing the hunger instead of feeding it"?

Gemini answered:

Numbing hunger instead of feeding it means ignoring or suppressing physical hunger signals with habits, drinks, or distractions rather than providing your body with nourishment.

Why People Numb Hunger

 

Diet Culture: Trying to force a lower calorie intake than the body needs

 

Distraction: Using caffeine, water, or busywork to push past biological cues.

 

Disconnection: Losing touch with natural hunger signs due to chronic stress or strict rules 

 

Common Ways Hunger is Numbed

 

Caffeine: Drinking black coffee or tea to blunt appetite

 

Excessive Water: Chugging large amounts of fluids to temporarily fill an empty stomach

 

Mental Surpression: Ignoring stomach growling, fatigue, or irrability ultil it passes.

 

The Risk

 

Rebound Bingeing: Surpressing hunger often leads to intense biological cravings and eventual overeating.

 

Slower Metabolism: Long gaps between meals can cause metabolic slowing

 

Nutrient Deficiencies: Denying the body adequate fuel harms overall energy and hormone balance. 

 

..

 

As noted by the MSU Extention, reconnecting with physical signs like an empty stomach or mild fatigue helps align your eating pattern with true nourishment.

 

Reading the answer above kinda opens my perspective about comfort and hunger. How we deal with hunger the right way is the middle. Not overeating, but still eat when hungry. And I'm not talking about fasting, cause in fasting, the pattern is there, there's sahoor, and also there's time to break fast, and the sunnah for both is actually told us to eat with good nutritious food, like date/kurma.

 

I wonder, in that post, numbing the hunger instead of feeding it is count as examples of comfort. I imagine the kind of person who finds not eating as comfort, someone who's addicted to something, that it makes them not eat because they're occupied with what they're addicted to? My imagination is like game addict who's too lazy to move somewhere else. Or like what google said in number 1 why people numbing the hunger, diet culture. Someone who's socially, or because of work pressure to do diet but unfortunately, chooses the wrong way to do it.

 

But still, I don't feel satisfied with that. So my curiosity moved me to ask the author directly. And the answer...

 

 

The Author's answer 

 

Feeding the hunger = doing something that genuinely satisfies that drive: training, creating, working toward a goal, confronting a difficult issue, taking a risk, improving yourself.

 

Numbing the hunger = using easy pleasures or distractions to make yourself temporarily stop feeling that drive: endless scrolling, binge-watching, drinking, chasing likes, passive entertainment, etc.

 

"Hunger" means the inner drive for achievement, challenge, grwoth, purpose, or meaningful action; not literal hunger.

 

My immediate response, aah.. so that's what it actually means in that passage. Why didn't I think about it? I read some of the moments, and I know the author likes to use metaphor. He once used the metaphor of leaves and roots, to tell the reader how we should treat something to come and go as leaves, so it doesn't shake the core of us. Don't make something that is not important as our foundation, cause if we do, and that thing somehow go away, "the tree" will fall and can't stand tall again. Just like what I read in Yasmin Mogahed's "Reclaim Your Heart", it is important to know where you put "the world" in, it should be in your hand, not in your heart.

 

***

 

The hikmah behind all of this process of reading — questioning — finding the answer — writing the note.

 

Allah wants to teach me that I shouldn't stop myself in the comfort zone. And all those distractions, is a part of numbing the "hunger". Also, sometimes, how someone's comfort related to literal hunger is not always binge-eating, it could also be numbing the hunger, which both of them give harm effect on our body, and is a sign of an unhealthy mental condition.

 

Last but not least, let's not just stop this, after writing this, that should be the last step of the process: implementing it, put it in an act. Consistently feeding "the hunger" instead of numbing it. Let's becoming a better version of ourselves day by day. May Allah makes it easier for us. Aamiin.

 

Wallahua'lam. 

***

Note:

 

[1] Moment = Post. It is what "Post" in hellotalk world's called. Don't confuse it with general "moment" words.

[2] I start writing this while remember someone's saying to me, "Did I ask you about your feeling?" Lol. I got a good laugh because of that question.

I guess that's just how it is. I know no one is asking. It's just a habit of mine to write out what I feel after reading books, articles, or other writings.

We call it "aliran rasa". It's just a way to express what we feel and think after reading. It could also not only limited to reading it could be after experiencing something, or doing something.

I initially thought someone who writes would like to hear what the reader's feeling/thought after reading their works. But I guess, not everyone is like me. I'd be happy to know what my readers feel and think about what I'm writing in this blog. I'd like to have a conversation about it. I have a wonderful memory discussing about things we read. I miss Aksara, they really taught me how literacy works. It's not just writing, reading or watching, there should be a discussion between, a discussion that moves us to write more, read more or watch more.

But I could see that person's point of view. My short sentences back then did sound like an awful excuse and a criticism. I guess I'd be annoyed too if someone is saying my writing is too long and they find it hard to focus on reading it. Lol. Anyway, sorry about that. I won't repeat it again, I'll put out what I feel and think here, and if I have question, I'll be on the point. What a personality wkwkwk.