Challenges seem to nip at the heels of recent victories. What is the story that I am telling myself? I chew on my thoughts, and they leave me hungrier. Perhaps I need to get a healthier mental diet. What is on your thought menu? Are you being nourished? We must dig deeper and look at the ingredients. What are the elements that make up the thoughts? If actions are the iceberg's tip, then the base is our beliefs. Our thoughts are the rudder. My thoughts are trying to steer me to solve my problem. Yesterday's art piece was a study in how to get disparate ideas to make a cohesive whole.
The challenge is to pull back the curtain. How does one's mind make the mental sausage? The brain takes many shortcuts to prevent us from being bombarded with information. Imagine trying to talk a walk and focusing not only on your pace and path but also on every item, sound, or sensation that comes along the way. Prevention of information overload is the price we pay for efficiency. The trade-off is that we can get stuck in our tracks and succumb to limiting beliefs. Once I had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day for fifteen years, true story. I have since upgraded to a salad, but I remain a creature of habit.
A boat floats because it displaces water and weighs less than the volume. Getting the mind to replace a belief system requires it to displace the auto-programming. Ironically replacing your beliefs and upgrading your thoughts can make you feel apprehension because you think yourself lost. I am definitely in the kicking and screaming camp when it comes to change. Over the years, I embraced curiosity and learned to replace fear to gain momentum. What can substitute other ingredients to make your thought menu healthier?
What's next? That is up to you and me. My beliefs limited me in the past, which has had my thoughts steer me to "safety." A comfort zone is a desert. Very little grows there. Sometimes a mental diet is not enough. Action is the key to releasing the weight of our old thought patterns. Take action and review the outcome. If it is positive, your brain may consider new programming. Are you being limited by your beliefs? Who would you be without limits?
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