Junk Food
for Your Soul
There
are many things that do nothing to feed our soul. I call these things junk food
for your soul. Junk food for your soul is anything that robs you of the ability
to experience unconditional love and joy.
It's
no secret that too much junk food is bad for your body and your health. Just
like cookies, cakes, chips and candy do nothing to fuel your body; there are
many things that do nothing to feed our soul. I call these things junk food for
your soul. Junk food for your soul is anything that robs you of the ability to
experience unconditional love and joy. Let's compare the junk food versus the
healthy food for your soul.
Junk
Music, Movies and Books vs. Inspirational Music, Movies and Books Now remember, we are talking about
healthy food for our soul. Have you ever walked into a movie in a good mood and
walked out feeling down and out? That's happened to me several times. One time
in particular was when I saw "Magnolia" with Tom Cruise. I was on a
date with my husband and I remember leaving that movie feeling very depressed
and angry. To top it off, it caused a fight between us because my husband
thought the movie was great. Movies, music and books tap into our emotions and
have the ability to fuel the love in our soul or drain it. By choosing
inspirational forms of art, you will lift your spirit and experience the love
that is naturally in you. I'll never forget listening to this beautiful love
song with my best friend in her media room. The power of the music, the words
and the singer's voice was enough to drive both of us to tears. At the end of
the song, we both just looked at each other with tears in our eyes. We could do
nothing but hug each other because of the love we felt in that moment.
Complaining
vs. Gratitude It's
much easier to focus on all the things we don't have or the things we don't
like. Complaining that you don't have enough money or your husband doesn't help
enough around the house keeps your energy at a very low level. If you can rise
above and practice gratitude, you will raise your energy level and begin to
experience love. Play a game with yourself. Keep an ongoing list of the top 3
things that happened to you today. I had a nice hot shower this morning. My
husband kissed me goodbye before he left for work. I got to listen to some
great music on the way to work. Throughout your day, try to replace one of the
three things on your list with something even better. This will keep you
focused on having an attitude of gratitude.
Negative
Thinking vs. Positive Thinking Your thoughts determine your feelings
and your feelings determine your behavior. So what's going to happen if you
think negatively? You will experience negative emotions and your emotions will
fuel negative behavior. If you want to feed your soul and experience
unconditional love and joy, it all starts with your thoughts. How do you see
yourself and the world around you? Do you see yourself as a beautiful child of
God or do you beat yourself up with negative comments like "You're so
fat" or "You'll never be successful"? Is the world around you
filled with loving and trusting people or cynical and shady people? Your thoughts
are very powerful and have the ability to shape your entire life. If you don't
believe me, watch the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know"?
Guilt
vs. Grace If you
struggle with guilt, you know it is hard to feel good about yourself when you
feel guilty. Guilt implies that you have done something wrong. Sometimes we
take on guilt that doesn't belong to us. Other times we experience guilt
because we make mistakes. Making mistakes is part of being human. It is the way
we learn more about what love is and what love isn't. Go easy on yourself and
others. God gives us grace, and by extending that grace, we feed our soul and
the soul of others with love.
Anger
vs. Forgiveness Unresolved
anger is like poison in your soul. The other day, on Christian radio, it was
explained that anger clogs your spiritual arteries. If you want to do a triple
bypass on your spiritual heart, you must learn to forgive. It does you or the
person you are angry at no good to harbor resentment. Forgiveness is like
lifting a huge weight off your shoulders. It frees our heart and soul to
experience the joy we deserve to feel.
Victim/Martyr
Attitude vs. Empowerment Attitude A victim or martyr carries around an
attitude that she is wounded and uncontrollable circumstances happen to her. A
victim feels she has no power to change her life. This kind of attitude is so
damaging to your spirit. It will shut you down and absolutely rob your joy.
When you have an empowerment attitude, you are taking control of your personal
happiness. You give yourself the power to choose how you are going to feel. You
believe you can create whatever kind of life you want. To experience love and
joy in life is a choice we all have. It is given to each of us at birth.
Isolation
vs. Connection As
human beings, we need other people. It is through relationship with others that
we learn about love. Community provides a place for each of us to give and
receive love. If you spend a lot of time in isolation, your soul cannot be fed
by the love of others. I remember when I was younger and most of my life was
spent alone. I was an only child for a very long time and I learned to be
independent and self-responsible. This carried into my adult years in a way
that was unhealthy for me. I did everything alone - I counted on no one for
help. When I went on a women's retreat, my tendency to isolate was pointed out
to me. I remember a therapist asking me where I was going. I told her I was
going to work out. She looked at me and said, "Alone?" I was a bit
taken aback. Was there any other way? I have since learned that fellowship with
loving people does wonders for filling my soul up. Isolation is lonely and
loneliness is draining.
Fear
vs. Faith Your
soul cannot breathe when you live in fear. Fear is crippling and will stop you
from fully experiencing the joys of life. To be bogged down with worry and
anxiety is like that sick feeling you get when you eat a ton of junk food. You
can't move. Faith is like that fresh fruit salad that nurtures your body. It's
light and refreshing. It enables you to move around freely with energy and
love. One of my friend's children is battling a very rare disease called
Langerhans Cell Hystocytosis. Through this struggle, they have been challenged
with fear. They shared something that I think is very profound and speaks to
the importance of faith. They once read that God's plan for us is like a piece
of embroidery artwork. We only see the back side with all of the ugly knots,
frayed strings, and twisted stitches that seem to make no sense. But God sees
the front side - the side that is perfectly planned and executed - the finished
product, so beautiful and clear.
So
what do you want to feed your soul? Junk food or healthy food?
