In life, there are times when your body does not obey your mind.
Especially when the 'pleasure of eating' turns into the 'fear of defecating,' life becomes truly exhausting.
Here is a man who calls himself the 'Human High-Pass.'
He was the owner of a sensitive digestive system who had to rush to the bathroom as soon as he finished eating.
One day, unable to bear it any longer, he visited a doctor and began to pour out his grievances. Deep despair filled his voice. "Doctor, I feel like I'm going to die. Lately, my body doesn't feel like my own. Whenever I eat something, it comes right out. I'm not exaggerating; what I just ate comes out exactly as it was, without even changing its shape!" The doctor adjusted his glasses and asked. "Come out exactly as it was? Could you tell me more?" The patient replied, his voice choked with injustice.
"It is exactly as I said! If I eat a cucumber, a cucumber comes out, and if I eat a watermelon, a watermelon comes out.
If I eat corn, kernels come out embedded in it. It seems my intestines have completely forgotten what digestion is.
How can I have a normal 'stool' like everyone else?
Please, let me return to normal!"
A moment of silence followed.
The doctor appeared to be lost in very serious and deep contemplation.
Fiddling with his stethoscope, the doctor finally spoke.
His prescription was not just clear-cut, but cosmic(?).
"Patient, if that is the case, there is only one way. From today, please eat only 'stool'."
Behind this absurd twist lies a painful joke that penetrates our lives.
The doctor's prescription is actually logically perfect(?). If eating a cucumber produces a cucumber and eating a watermelon produces a watermelon,
the idea is that the problem can be solved by directly eating the desired outcome, 'stool.'
Of course, this is not a medical prescription, but a sophisticated form of humor that directly counters the patient's absurd logic.
However, through this humor, we are led to ask a valuable question: "Are we truly living by 'digesting'?"
Korean society is uniquely result-oriented.
We are not satisfied unless an output comes out immediately after input is entered.
However, a healthy body absolutely requires the process of 'digestion and absorption (Process)' between 'Input' and 'Output.'
When that quiet time of chewing, breaking down, and making nutrients our own is omitted,
no matter how good the food is, we end up remaining in a futile state of 'eating a cucumber and spitting it out.'
The complaints of a patient with indigestion are not limited merely to physical problems.
Every day, we consume a tremendous amount of information, indulge in fancy food from famous restaurants, and read countless self-help books.
But how much of that truly becomes my blood and flesh?
Excess of Knowledge: You consume YouTube and newsletters, but because they do not go through the process of digesting thoughts, they are quickly forgotten.
Emotional Indigestion: Even when you get angry or sad, you move on to the next task without time to soothe yourself, leading to mental illness.
Relationship Indigestion: As you repeat superficial encounters without deep conversation, your heart is always hungry.
If you also feel that "nothing remains no matter what I do" or that "life is like pouring water into a bottomless pit," take a moment right now It is time to press the 'pause button.' The doctor's remark, tossed out like a joke, "Just eat the stool," might actually be the sound of a bamboo stick striking us, paradoxically showing us the importance of the process when we are obsessed only with results.
Now, moving beyond the joke, I would like to offer some sincere advice. If you want to eat a 'cucumber' and not see a 'cucumber,' we must give our intestines time.
The Aesthetics of 30: The act of chewing thoroughly in the mouth accounts for half of digestion.
Only when the form of food is completely broken down does the intestine finally recognize it as 'nutrients.'
Life experiences are no different. They become wisdom only when you ruminate on them sufficiently.
Warm Waiting: The intestines are sensitive to cold. The Korean slogan "Eoljuka" (Ice Americano even if you freeze to death) causes digestive enzymes to stop functioning.
Occasionally, relax your intestines with a warm cup of tea.
Emptiness of the Mind: Stress stiffens the intestines. You need the compulsion to let go of the pressure to "do well," gently massage your stomach, and find the余裕 (leisure/space) to tell yourself, "It's okay to go slowly."
Ultimately, life is a battle not of what you eat, but of what you make your own.
I hope this is not a futile time of eating and letting go of the cucumber, but a time of deep digestion that delivers its crispness and moisture to every corner of your body.
