The Elephant’s Tale

A popular phrase with nutrition-minded folk is “You are what you eat.” Tony DeLiso author of Legacy: The Power Within, writes “What you think about, you bring about.” (In other words, “You are what you think.”) I’m taking that idea one step further —

You are what you think about what you eat.

Why is this important? In our quest for better health, our society has become preoccupied with seeking “good” foods and avoiding “bad” foods. The problem is, our definition of “good” and “bad” keeps changing. When I was growing up, milk was good for you. Now it’s bad. Eggs were good for you, then they were bad for you, and now the pendulum is swinging back and it appears they might be good for you… again.

Here’s the bottom line — a healthy body can assimilate almost any food and use it to its advantage. There is no “good” food or “bad” food. There’s just food.

Does this mean that you should eat a regular diet of cheeseburgers and nachos? Not at all! Your body thrives on a diversity of foods, and eating only one set of foods — even “good” foods — stresses it unnecessarily. In general, the more varied your diet, the better. So eat your fruits and veggies. Eat your whole grains. Drink your water. But an occasional treat of culturally-forbidden food is not only good for your soul, it’s good for your body as well.

(This is assuming the body is already reasonably healthy. A body in the process of healing may need to avoid certain foods because it cannot properly handle them yet. The problem is in the body. The food itself is not “bad”.)

So what about “fast food”? The problem with fast food is not the food part; the problem is with the “fast” part. People who order fast food tend to wolf it down without thinking about it at all. Worse, if they have listened to the endless nutritional propaganda, they are aware that they’re eating “bad” food — and they’re doing it anyway. This is self-destructive behavior which is bound to cause problems — not because of the food itself, but rather because of what we think (or don’t think) about it.

What can you do? For one thing, quit thinking of various foods as being “good” or “bad”. Granted, some foods are more nutritionally effective than others. And a body that’s healing may benefit from eating certain foods while avoiding some others.

But labeling foods as “good” or “bad” polarizes your belief set and needlessly complicates your life.

Here’s another suggestion. It’s a shame that our society has gotten out of the habit of “saying grace” before a meal. I’m not advocating religion here, nor am I proposing reciting some memorized phrases without thinking about them. I’m just saying that our digestive and nutritive processes would be well served if we gratefully considered our food — whether we’re dining on organic tofu or a bag of deliciously greasy fries — and appreciated its contribution to our health and well-being.

Remember, it’s not what we eat that’s important, it’s how and why we eat. In short, we are what we think about what we eat.

Yours in yummy joy……

jim

In my preceding post, I recommended that (contrary to much popular self-help teaching) you recognize your limiting beliefs… as long as you also recognize that you can change those beliefs. So now let’s look at one way to change ineffective beliefs.

You need to realize that beliefs are not formed out of nothingness. We are “taught” our beliefs in a variety of ways. One of the main ways of acquiring a belief is through an “authority” telling you that something is true. When you’re a child, authorities include your parents, your teachers, religious leaders, and even your playmates. As an adult, your authorities can include your spouse, your boss, the government, or TV news anchors. (For that matter, almost anyone on TV — including people in TV commercials — are subconsciously regarded as authorities by most viewers.)

So if you have an ineffective belief that you think might have been acquired from an authority, it’s a good idea to stop and consider whether the authority might be wrong. (This is heresy to a child, but as an adult you should be able to handle it.) If the authority is fallible, the limiting belief might be wrong.

Once you realize that a limiting belief might be wrong, you’re well on your way to deciding that it is wrong. Then, when you no longer recognize the belief as “truth”, it loses its power over you.

As an example, let’s say that someone (who you regard as an authority) tells you that you’re a failure. You might then begin to believe you’re a failure, and no amount of affirmations will shake that belief. But when you can recognize that the criticizing person was expressing a belief and not a truth, you can choose to examine the belief. And when you accumulate sufficient evidence to the contrary, you can choose to discard the ineffective belief altogether.

We’ll look at accumulating evidence to support your new beliefs in the next posting.

Yours in joy…..

jim

OK, I’m not in favor of abolishing all positive thinking. But people are causing themselves a lot of problems nowadays by maintaining delusional positive beliefs under the guise of “positive thinking”. They think they’re helping themselves, but they’re only making matters worse.

The problem is, there can be a BIG difference between what people proclaim they believe (which might be what they truly think they believe) and what they actually believe. Consider the movie The Wizard of Oz. Remember when the Cowardly Lion was preparing to enter the haunted forest? He boasted “I don’t believe in spooks!” But a few moments later, after the Scarecrow had been tossed around by invisible assailants, Cowardly Lion was on his knees, blubbering “I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do! I do! I do believe in spooks!”

Did his beliefs really change in those few seconds? No, he obviously believed in evil spirits all along, but earlier he had denied this belief to others (and possibly to himself as well) in a misguided attempt to appear brave.

What about you? When you say that you believe that you can accomplish something, do you really? Or are you like C. L., hoping that if you say your “delusional belief” loudly enough, it’ll come true. The problem is, it won’t. In fact, lying to yourself further erodes your trust in yourself and your potential.

What’s a poor Cowardly Lion to do? First, kind of like the old adage to “know thyself”, I recommend that you be honest with yourself. If you truly believe that you cannot do something, admit it to yourself. (I recognize that this is a lot easier said than done, and it goes counter to the teachings of a lot of “positive thinking” gurus. But it is important.)

But don’t get discouraged, and don’t stop there!

The next, crucial step is to recognize that your newly-recognized belief that you cannot do something… is just a belief. It’s not a fact. It’s not “truth”. It’s a belief. And here’s the best part….

A belief can be changed.

In my next post, I’ll recommend some ways to change ineffective beliefs… and begin to change your world. But before you can change an ineffective belief, you first must admit that you have it. Denying that you have these “negative” beliefs by proclaiming (or affirming) the opposite only hides the problem. For “positive thinking” to work, you must first acknowledge your true beliefs.

And while you’re at it, give yourself a pat on the back. Admitting that you have ineffective beliefs that you’re going to change is a very courageous act. Cowardly Lion would be proud of you!

Yours in joy……..

jim