One of the most interesting assignments we’ve been given in MKE is to go on a Mental Diet. Give no opinions, have no negative thoughts and keep the tv off.
I was excited to be the observer of my own behavior when we were given the Mental Diet assignment. At first, I wasn’t totally aware of every negative thought and I kept blurting them out without thinking. But I noticed that the more I stayed on top of the “diet”, the easier it got.
I started off this week really well, keeping tabs on what I was saying to myself, thinking and feeling. It wasn’t effortless but I could tell I was getting there.
Then a few things happened throughout the week that surprised me.
First, I noticed negative thoughts were triggered by clutter in my home. So I did a really good clean up of a few highly visible areas and my mood instantly got a boost. I also noticed that each time I passed by the spaces that had been cluttered, I was feeling good rather than looking for excuses or point blame or get angry about it.
The other thing that surprised me this week was how quickly I could shift my feelings based on a situation. For a while, I had been beating myself up for the things I didn’t accomplish on my index cards. I should have been celebrating for everything I had accomplished but I wasn’t.
Then on the days when I really pushed myself and I started my morning reading Og Mandino’s love scroll and I stayed laser-focused on my thoughts and intentions for the day, I hardly noticed any negative thoughts at all and when I had one I could quickly shift from negative to positive.
Today I had a real test of everything I had been through with my mental diet all week.
My husband and I were at the grocery store and as we were waiting in the checkout line, a woman two ahead of us was having trouble with her debit cards. She was getting more frustrated as she tried each card, which didn’t work, meanwhile the line behind us got longer and longer.
Finally, the cashier suspended her order and the lady left the store to go across the street to her bank and find the atm.
The cashier turned to us and apologized, rushing to catch up the woman who was waiting ahead of us. As this woman was bagging her groceries and paying the bill, she turned to me and said she was sorry for not moving fast enough. I let her know it was fine, I was happy to just hang out and relax until it was our turn seeing as there was nothing I could do to move the machine along anyway, so why worry about it. She said not many people would be as relaxed in a situation like this and thanked me.
I think the Mental Diet is brilliant and I am really enjoying it as I see it as a true test of our own power within. And I look forward to keep going with it.
Just marvelous blog, Sarah! Great self directed observation of you. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences this week! Give more, get more!
Sarah, congratulations, well done.
Stellar blog Sarah! Thanks for sharing your insights with us. You are leading by example by doing your best as you engage in the mental diet. Bravo for recognizing your growth & it’s clear you are positively impacting your world and those around you. Yaaaahhhoooooo!!!
Nancy, you keep beating me to the punch! 🙂
Sarah, your testament to the diet is strong enough (note- my opinion) to get just about anyone to try it! I thank you; #MKE thanks you; people of the world thank you! 🙂
Good for you, Sarah! I always take the time to say a kind word to a person who is working hard and doing their best in any situation! Give more, get more! You gave kindness, you got a boost to your mental diet!