End the Fight Against Celiac Disease

“Fighting Celiac Disease” was recently published by a news outlet in Michigan. We fight against cancer, we fight against AIDS, we fight the war on drugs, and it all seems futile to me, particularly in the case of fighting celiac disease. According to Eckhart Tolle, fighting against something, whether it’s drug trafficking, depression, another person or a country, only serves to increase our focus and attention on the very thing we don’t want, which ultimately results in frustration and misery. The widely popular book and movie The Secret is based on a similar idea. Buddhist philosophers have said the same thing for centuries, and new wave behavior therapies are advocating patients and therapists to live the life that they want instead of focusing on getting rid of the negative emotions and circumstances they don’t want.

Celiac disease is a completely manageable illness. Fighting it is totally counterproductive. We need to start focusing on what we do want, how we do want to live, and who do we want to be rather than focusing on what we don’t want and the illness that we’re “fighting.”

Accepting celiac disease as part of my life has been empowering. I am committed to the gluten-free diet for myself, my health, and my long term happiness, but it’s not always easy. Sometimes it’s incredibly difficult, and sometimes I still get sick, but I am willing to face the difficulty of maintaining a gluten-free diet in order to live a healthy life. My commitment to be gluten free means that I will do my best every day, that I accept responsibility for my diet, that I plan ahead, and that I have compassion for myself. In the beginning, I allowed myself time to mourn the loss of my favorite foods and my former lifestyle. I experienced sadness that I would never again eat my favorite pizza, but I was also committed to finding a new favorite gluten-free pizza. I still experience concern about travelling with celiac disease, but I can plan ahead and find creative new ways to travel gluten free. The gluten-free diet is a commitment, not a fight. For me, the notion of fighting celiac disease is equivalent to fighting myself. Maintaining a gluten free diet is about honoring myself and taking care of my body—it’s the only one I have.