Health is not just about removing the junk food from our lives; it is equally about adding foods that nourish us. The nutrients in food fuel our bodies and provide energy to accomplish our daily tasks and live a full life.Similarly, nutritional thoughts provide the energy needed to accomplish the daily tasks and live a full life.
Put down the comfort foods
Junk food causes harm to our bodies. Junk thoughts cause harm to our emotional lives. Removing them stops their destructive impact, but we have to replace them with something healthy. When we add nutrition to fuel our emotional lives, we are energized and excited to step into our lives fully.Every morning we wake up and brush our teeth because during the nighttime hours bacteria build up and the chances of decay increase. Our bodies are aging and each day we have to work against the natural progression towards decay. The same is true of our emotional worlds. Without attention, our emotional states degenerate.We have to wake up and brush our teeth to avoid decay, and we have to check in with our emotional lives to avoid decay.What is the equivalent toothbrush, smoothie, or egg white sandwich? Culture does not define them for us effectively, but there are many out there.If we are supposed to eat green leafy vegetables, which one of the dozens out there do you like? How do you like to get protein? We know what choices we can make to eat healthy, and we have figured out how to do so in a way that is palatable to us. From the options available, we pick a combination that supports our health. It’s not about being perfect – it’s about being well. We have the skill-set already and it translates perfectly to our emotional health. Let’s set our goals for emotional wellness, not emotional perfection. Let’s aim for optimal, holistic health. It may not add years to your life but it certainly can increase the quality of life. So pick some emotionally healthy thoughts and actions to support your emotional life on a daily basis.Emotionally healthy thoughts are the thoughts that are supportive of your goals and vision of life. What do you want to do that is different? What kind of person do you aspire to be? Take a moment and create a sentence that expresses this goal.
Setting Goals
Examples:I want to be: an honorable person; a person with the highest integrity; an outstanding mother or father; a loving friend or spouse; or anything else that resonates with you. I want to have a life: with contribution, in service, that makes a global impact, that makes a lot of money, provides for my children or any other life design that resonates with you. Now, with that in mind, notice any junk food thoughts that could get in the way of your goals. Junk food thoughts are easy to spot because they are organized around blame, anger, shame, or simply complaints about time. Junk thought Examples: Blame – I would have great integrity, but I cannot because my husband, wife, mother, father will do or will say something. If they supported me more, I would do a lot more.Shame – I would be more loving but I am not very lovable. If others see me, they will know the truth – I am a bad person, unworthy person, unlovable person.Anger – I would be x, y, or z except I am too busy being angry with family, friends or my upbringing that I cannot clear space in my life to get much else done. Time – I have so many things I want to accomplish or so many ways I could be a better person, except I have no time. What is your junk food thought craving? What do you say to yourself that is easy, well- rehearsed, and pleasurable in the short-term, but leaves you in an endless cycle that does not support your goals? We want to replace it with something that prevents further decay and adds nutrients.Nutritional examples:Blame – Maybe my parents are not supportive, but I still have choices. I am going to make a choice today.Shame – People will not leave me when they see me. I am stronger than that and the people around me are not that judgmental. If they are, I need better friends.Anger – Anger is destructive and I am not destructive. I am a force for positive impact.Time – I have time. I choose how I spend it. I am allowed to spend my time however I want. There are thousands of varieties of nutritional sentences. Try to find something to combat the junk food cravings! What can you take from any of these areas and incorporate into your life daily?
What action can you take?
Until I understood that I needed to take action, not just understand or study the concepts, I saw little improvement. We brush our teeth daily and eat healthy food – we need to create daily habits that promote emotional health to feel better. We all know we need to jog, but without putting on the jogging shoes, we will not get the benefits.Take the week and take action into your nutritional thoughts!
