Limits are funny things. They can either draw attention to the boundary and create an obsession with what is forbidden just on the other side of the line or they can mark out the territory that is safe and give us assurance and peace to move around freely within them. I tend to eat with no real boundaries, eating what and when I want with no thought for why or the ultimate result.

The Daniel fast always starts out for me as the former, but ends as the latter because it's a journey, one that plows land that has long lain fallow. What begins as hard earth is broken and ready for planting by the end.

Three weeks of restriction are a yoke I resist like any untamed animal. They are heavy and hindering at first. Time, she proves to be my friend while I endure the yoke of healthy food guidelines. She is not new to my circumstances, it's just that I have become acutely aware of her presence as I acclimate to wearing a yoke. Although I resent her a wee bit, she befriends and does not begrudge me. Time is patient, and she teaches me that my body feels good, better; that good decisions make me disciplined, stronger. Through her the yoke of restriction becomes a gift.

Through her, I become aware of unfarmed land with potential to produce a bountiful harvest should I embrace the yoke and my new friend, Time. They will help me do the hard work more efficiently. The burdens of restriction and time become tools for taming what has been wild within me.

Every other time, the Daniel Fast ends for me here. But this time, I intend to keep my new friends close, seed the new ground and reap a harvest. That is why we we wear the yoke and break up hard ground, is it not? 

~ ~ ~
Daniel Fast Reflections From the Beginning:
Day 1 :: Food
Day 2 :: Slow
Day 3 :: Foreign
Day 4 :: Hunger
Day 5 :: Life
Day 6 :: Free
Day 7 :: Praise
Day 8 :: Respond
Day 9 : Interruption
Day 10 :: Prayer
Day 11 :: Answer
Day 12 :: Commune