You are what you think

We have all heard the common phrase, you are what you eat. Effectively if you eat unhealthy foods then you will become unhealthy. The inverse being true as well. If you eat healthy foods, then you will become healthy as well. I think I believe that. Not sure if I really have faith in it though, because if I had faith in the concept, then I would actually take it to heart when I cram a bunch of chocolate chip cookies in my mouth!

However, I am not writing this blog to lament over my poor eating habits, at I least so. I am realizing more and more that we are what we think. If you think you are unhealthy, then you will become unhealthy. If you think you are poor then you will either remain or become poor. If you think you are weak, then you are or will become weak. When we let our minds dwell on negativity for far too long, then we start to actualize those thoughts and make them real.

I remember a lesson taught to me at a young age, that every misdeed is first calculated in the mind before it becomes reality. Precognition, if you will, is a prerequisite for action. If you dwell on a particular act in your mind, then you will eventually act and perform whatever it is that you were thinking about. When left to your natural instincts, you mind will focus on primal urges that are being sent to you as stimuli. Basic drives of survival such as reproduction, food consumption, avoiding risk are good examples of these primal motivators. This is a good thing when it is absolutely necessary. For example, when a person needs to survive being stranded in the wilderness. However, since that is not going to happen very often, then we need to consider how to focus our minds on actions that will have significant life improving benefit. Understanding what your mind is really focused on, and learning to help channel that mind towards productive thoughts is an acute form of mindfulness and is probably what any successful person learns to do.

Guy Reams

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