The Inner Diet
You are what you consume
Have you ever heard the expression, “you are what you eat”? If so, have you ever wondered what else you may be based on what you consume? There’s far more that goes into us on a daily basis then just food alone. How might these other substances be changing us? Let us consider.
The Differences Between Physical and Mental Ailments
Physical abnormalities are typically easy to notice. They occur and, having a general familiarity with our body, we notice them right away. Even conditions occurring in our body internally will usually give warning by manifesting themselves through external symptoms. Not so with the matters deep inside, the mind and our inner self. A subtle change in your thinking may go years and a complete breakdown before you ever even notice it was there at all. They creep up on us and slowly change our deeply rooted processes to everyday normal living and rationale.
Even when we may notice something is amiss, few of us have the patience to look under the hood and see what it may be. To work with matters of the mind and inner self requires time. There’s no quick fix and, quite frankly, there never will be. It’s a dirty job, a gruesome job, and it may just change you when you’re finally done with it, and nobody likes change–unless it’s completely broke there’s no sense “fixing what isn’t broken”. In modern times, what brings the most opposition to this job is that it cannot be simplified, technologically amplified, or referred out. It is something only you can do to choose to reach out for these answers in the silence of your heart. While it is possible to get help up front, be it through personal or professional counseling, spiritual guidance, books, youtube, or TedTalks, this part of the journey there is no other way around.
As the saying goes, “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot force it to take a drink”. While a physical doctor may be able to diagnose an ailment in the knee and get the horse back walking to the water, it is not possible for the psychologist or the philosopher to will the horse to drink all on their own. It’s a complicated and mysterious part of health and well-being. While we may be able to receive guidance on how to go about navigating through our mind and its motives, it is only by ourselves that we can make that choice to actually go in and do what needs to be done. This is a gruesome process. Still, there is always hope. For now, our hope will go into prevention.
Prevention: Choosing a Healthy Diet For Your Mind
How do we prevent ourselves from getting to a point of repair? Well, just as in physical health and even the maintenance of most material goods such as a car, we need to take care of it. What does proper care of our external body look like? It probably involves some sort of diet considerations and exercise goals. The better we are with these then the better shape we will be in. For those doing it well, this means careful planning and consideration of what physical substances go in their body and time spent in exercise daily. This is precisely the prevention prescription to keeping a healthy inner life. Diet is not only a consideration of what needs to be consumed, but also what is not to be consumed. So to for the mind and inner self.
Assessment time
What is your inner diet like right now? Time to start tracking calories and noting how certain items make you feel both immediately after consumption and days following. What are the “inner-foods” you go to most? Are they adding to your well-being or detracting from it? Consider everything you listen to, watch, read, and otherwise spend time letting it trickle in through your head. This can involve real-life conversations, the example of peers, music, social media, and work/school meetings and interactions to name but a few. What are these items bringing into the inner workings of yourself? Is it good and profitable, or destructive, damaging, morally corrupt, confusing, or otherwise just plain wrong? Figure out what you stand for and the type of person you want to work towards becoming and you be the judge. Determine if these things you are consuming are helping you get to where you want to be or if they’re taking you further off the path.
Sticking To It
Every choice has consequence. You let too many salty, fatty and otherwise bad foods get in and you’re going to start feeling it. In the inner diet, one “cheat meal” can be the difference between inner-peace and desperate need of repair. Repercussions are on a microscopic level that grows and takes control before we are even able to counterbalance it. These problems can fester deeper with reinforcement we don’t even know we are giving it. When we finally do, it can take years of continual effort striving to get back where we were. Let’s not go there. Instead, be mindful, pay attention, and take notice of what you are letting in and how it is affecting you. This is the number one strategy to good health, both inside and out.
Time put in now will dramatically save time later. Invest in your health. Get help if you need. And stop ignoring the needs of your inner self. Nourish it with what encourages and lifts it up. Give it foods with positivity and hope and remove from your pantry all items containing bitterness and hate. Check the nutrition labels and do not eat what is not good for you. I know you must do this with your food on some level and that is great. Now is the time to transfer these skills to your inner health as well. It will be far more impactful leading you to the life you want to live exemplified by all the character and virtue you admire.