The Sunday News
Selusweyinkosi Mhlanga
We have often heard the saying, ‘You are what you eat’ being said in line with watching our diet as it contributes directly to our health. What you feed the body is what nourishes it. If you lack nutrients your body will communicate through disease just as it will alert you when there is too much intake of one nutrient.
In the same way what we think is just as important since the body mechanism responds to our thoughts. What you feed the body is what it will act upon hence the advice to watch what we ‘feed’ our brains.
Our words, actions and reactions all come from our thoughts. We may not consciously be aware of that because some of our actions and reactions seem like knee-jerk reactions and we assume they are natural. That is because everything we think of or have thought of in the past is recorded in our subconscious minds and the body then retrieves those memories to react to similar circumstances.
Socialisation
The way we were socialised has a big effect on how most of us think because at an early age that is when we were taught how to do a lot of things and our brains recorded that as the ‘acceptable’ normal. That is why it is hard to try to change a grown up person’s mind about a subject they learnt at an early age because they consumed what was taught to them then and continued to believe in that throughout their years and that became their truth.
What you focus on grows
Whether good or bad, what we accept to dominate our thoughts ends up defining our lives. For that reason it is very important to focus on good thoughts that are sure to build us and try not to think of bad thoughts.
What you resist persists
Has anyone ever noticed how an unwanted nickname sticks more than one that is not rejected? That’s because the person, in trying to resist the name, actually puts in a lot of effort and ends up with a lot of the ‘unwanted’. That which dominates one’s thoughts is what will flourish. Another example would be a song that is played repeatedly in the presence of someone who does not like the song. The energy they take to dislike the song ends up attracting it and that person may find themselves singing the song without putting much thought into the act.
Some people define themselves as unhappy and think they cannot change their situations. The only thing standing between anyone and happiness is their thoughts. Anyone can change their mood through their thoughts to achieve a happier life. No one mood is permanent and we should not accept a few things that go on in our lives to define us.
Obviously bad things happen to all of us, no one is immune to them. It is however, our focus on those bad things that marks how we live our lives going forward. We’ve all failed at something, had embarrassing moments or made a totally wrong decision. There is no need to relive those embarrassing moments again and again as that will make us lose our self-confidence or make us fear trying new things. There is antiprogress in negative thoughts and they can suck the life out of an otherwise beautiful life.
Depression
Most people suffering from depression are actually being tormented by their thoughts. They magnify negative thoughts and those thoughts are truth to them and they end up not seeing a way forward, which depresses the body and they may end up in bed, having convinced the body that it is not well.
How about you turn around your life one thought at a time towards a pleasant life. Yes, you can vent for a minute, but don’t focus on it, focus instead on positive thoughts or achievements and that will light up your life. Give your body that boost of confidence that it needs.
We all have our goals and ambitions and we focus on those and put work into projects to make them a success. Much like tending to a garden and caring for flowers and vegetables, that’s how we ensure we walk towards the goals we have set for ourselves. Just as we put our ‘all’ into good projects to produce fruits, let us also bear in mind that the same method also works for a bad project or idea. We also have to train our brains to think of positive thoughts.
Someone might think that could be a mammoth task as we think of a whole lot of things per minute. As much as it takes practice to have any skills this can also be achieved through creating a habit to monitor your thoughts. It actually is fun, because you will be working towards your own happiness, health and peace of mind. Isn’t that something to gladly work towards?
