“There is a natural progression to everything in life: plant, cultivate, harvest” – Jeff Olsen

 

We’ve all heard “You are what you eat”.

Speaking from experience, a temporary diet of junk food, and fast food, probably won’t hurt the average person beyond a little weight gain. However, a constant diet of processed, food-like substances, over a long period of time, can –and will– cause certain illnesses and disease. We know this. Yet, millions of people continue making bad food choices for themselves, and their families, all the time.

Abundant research shows how the human body responds to eating too much of the unhealthiest fats, carbohydrates, and proteins (usually accompanied by excess salt, sugar, and artificial additives). Increased oxidation at the cellular level, chronic inflammatory responses, increased fat storage, insulin response to a spike in blood sugar, and a thousand other normal reactions, over time, result in breakdowns of the body’s ability to function properly. Knowing this does not necessarily mean a person will “eat healthy”. Too often, because the worst affects of a poor diet are not seen right away, people will continue to make unhealthy food choices unless, ad until, they’re diagnosed with some illness or disease. Only then, are many people motivated to make changes in their food consumption.

"How you feed your mind 
is every bit as critical 
as how you feed your body" - Jeff Olsen

If it is true that over-ingestion of poor quality food will result in a dysfunctional body, then is it not also true that a diet of poor quality thoughts will result in a dysfunctional mind? If so, may we also say: “You are what you think”?

“What you think, multiplied by action plus time, will create what you get” – Jeff Olsen

Like poor food choices (which are often preceded by poor thinking), occasional poor thought choices usually do not create serious health problems. However, like a junk-food diet, what would happen if we fed our brains a constant buffet of angry, negative, cynical, hurtful, even hateful messages? Would a constant daily diet of the worst kind of thinking support our physical and mental well-being?

Your mileage may vary, but I find when my mind stays focused on disturbing messages I see, hear, or read, it can actually affect the physical state of my body. I can become irritable, anxious, frustrated, sad, or angry when exposed to a continuous stream of junk-thought. These uncomfortable physical states of being often cause me to want to do something to feel better. That could be any one of a thousand different things, all of which are beyond the scope of this discussion.  But, what happens, in our minds, when we consume too much junk-thought? The longer I live, the more I realize, some of those junk-thoughts settle down into belief.

Like toxic petroleum spilled into a pristine ecology, over exposure to toxic thoughts can overwhelm our mind’s ability to handle it. What thoughts we cannot ignore or process on the surface, can sink from our conscious down into the sub-conscious and become belief. Toxic beliefs continue to give off toxic feelings that pollute our minds like toxic hydrocarbons that sink to the bottom, continue to leach out and poison the ecosystem. Polluted minds, like polluted environments, create an imbalance in nature. The proliferation of normal growth, strength, beauty, and wellness fall into disharmony. We may sense something is wrong, but how can we tell?

How would we know if junk-thought is creating asymmetry in our lives? Start with “Thoughtsmanship“. Recognize the following truths:

• What You think, You Look
• What You think, You Do
• What You think, You Are!
  • Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee

Thoughtsmanship is the art of expressing thoughts. Much of that expression is involuntary. For example, How we show up to others (in appearance, demeanor, and character) is affected by the thoughts we’re thinking. Our behaviors are affected by the thoughts we’re thinking. Therefore, it can be said that who we are, is in fact, an expression of the thoughts we think.

Let us All Open our Minds with Quality Thinking.

Click here for even MORE Food for Thought.

 

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