Wednesday 30 April 2014

"We are not our thoughts". Good, because I "think" I'm a failure! Sound familiar??

Eckard Tolle: "We are not our thoughts; our thoughts are not who we are. Yet we tend to associate ourselves with our thoughts… This is a common error. To equate our thinking with our Being, is to live in a separation."

As we go along on our weight loss/food management journey I think it's really important to also work on our idea of who we are...who we THINK we are.  It's important because most of us THINK we are the body we are trying to change. And if we are not happy with the body we inhabit and if the changes are not coming fast enough, or at all, where does that leave us? Where it leaves me is feeling less than, unworthy and like a failure.  Where does it leave you?


The struggle to not be ruled by thoughts of inadequacy and feeling less than have plagued me my whole life.  In our meetings we've logically talked about where these feelings started and how we've dealt with them over our lives. But for many of us these feelings run so deep and have become so much a part of our identity that we think we have no choice but to just live with them. But that's not true! Thoughts, like pounds, can be shed. 


In order to "shed" our negative thoughts we first need to recognize them for what they are when we think them.  For example, when one of your habitual negative "I'm-no-good" thoughts run through your head stop, recognize and understand it...understand that it's there because of habit, not because it's true.  And like all habits, we can change it by starting a new habit.  If you consistently stop the negative thought in it's tracks and replace it with a new positive thought, the negative thought will fade away because you've removed it's power.  Try stopping and recognizing your negatives thoughts for what they are...thoughts not reality.  Try turning the thought around.  If the thought is "I'm no good and can't do this"....turn it around and say, "I'm awesome and I can do this!".   Sounds simplistic but usually the best solutions are right?


If you're like me, you will be shocked at how many negative and self-doubting thoughts run through your head on a daily basis!  Dump the stinkin' thinkin'...is it absolutely useless!  


I watch interviews with Eckard Tolle, Depak Choprah, Maya Angelou, Brene Brown because I love to infuse my brain with powerful and positive thoughts. I feed my body lots of fruits and veggies and give my body regular exercise so it makes sense to me to feed my brain empowering ideology.  The whole package.


On your journey to become your best you, use ALL the tools you can.  I believe in order to create lasting positive change we must work on our minds and souls as well as our bodies.  Remember:  "Where the mind goes the body follows".   Be kind to your mind.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ditch the 'stinkin thinkin' and turn on the positive!!!!! Well said!!!!! Great post! Thanks for the inspiration!!!

Joanne Hartman said...

Back at ya with the feeling of inspiration! After beating myself up for 43 years, I've been on a diet since I was 10:(, I finally figured out that "stinkin' thinkin" doesn't work....and it really hurts!