...Little servings of thoughts coming your way...

 

Dear friend,

today I continue about how one’s mind-set hinders and impacts a healthy lifestyle  

      The key to a healthy body is a good head

Somali proverb

    

Our actions start in the head.
A mind set is a thought pattern that is developed over time as we assimilate ideas, make choices and give ourselves convincing reasons that what we are doing is right or suits our values. It is built from repeated actions, feelings and thoughts. The thoughts are not necessarily facts; they could be opinions and fallacious arguments. It is a slow growth in a certain direction. Often we are not consciously aware of the direction we are going in. It is only as we reflect on our situations that we examine the choices, the excuses and the reasons we have woven into our life.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is…live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

~ Gautama Buddha

It is not easy to examine one’s thought patterns when it has become second nature and comfortable. Why would we want to do something that feels uncomfortable especially if it makes us feel bad about ourselves. Maybe only when we see the need to change our ways (like in my case with my declining health) do we find the motivation to explore our actions and thoughts. Einstein said: “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. To change we need to challenge our mind set and to do that we need to ask questions about our excuses, reasons and fabrications, such as: Is it working for us? ; Is it really true?; or Isn’t there another way of looking at it?. If it is true, Is there something that can be done about it? (like my ankle). “What if I” questions are also good.

Here are some thoughts that might hinder you from changing a habit:

I can’t break my old habits.

I am just too undisciplined or disorganized.

I can’t say no to others when I am put in the position.

I don’t care I am too stressed and I don’t have time.

I won’t succeed or I can’t change –

This is one of my thoughts that didn’t serve me:

I don’t deserve to lose weight – once I had tried to lose weight and found it difficult to either put the effort in or build new habits; I began to blame myself; I felt shame  and defeat. I felt like I had let myself down and that everybody else thought so also. These feelings lead to the mind-set that “you don’t deserve to lose weight.”

There are other reasons that lead to this undeserving mind-set like past experiences of abuse, mental, physical or emotional, where one has been given the message that “you don’t matter and you don’t deserve a good wholesome life.” When one grows up with a certain situation we believe it to be normal and don’t always realize it is not unless we reflect on it. One of the messages I had assimilated was: “you don’t deserve…”

Once I reflected on the messages I had assimilated I had to work through them and over time I learnt to love and respect myself again. I realized that I did deserve a good wholesome lifestyle which included creating new habits that supported my health and weight. Working through these issues was my very first step to the habit of a healthy life style.

Cultivating a wholesome mind-set is a lifelong achievement. It is the first habit that needs to be addressed. It comes with time, honest reflection, awareness of our actions and thoughts. That is how we can challenge ourselves in the direction that we really want to go in. Cultivate your mind-set with self-respect.

I hope you feel encouraged.
Much Love, Morag.