A lot of people have responded to my question for feedback on their challenges in life and one of the major themes is:
How to maintain a positive state of mind (when so much energy gets spent on dealing with all the challenges we face today).
When observing my own mind I realized that I habitually cycle in the negatives
A LOT OF THE TIME.
And it's pretty exhausting as we're all well aware.
Then another thought came to me today: my mind treats the negatives like cookie dough.
WHAT? Yes: like cookie dough.
It tastes great and if I don't pay any attention I just keep eating cookie dough. Even though I know that eating all this cookie dough eventually is gonna make me sick, I happily keep eating.
It's also quite easy to share our cookie dough with others. We tend to bitch about the economy, our own situation, our challenges, our relationship... which on the one hand is a wonderful way of ventilating that part of our psyche, making room for shifting into a positive state, but if done without any consciousness behind it, we're in fact allowing others to put their cookie dough in our fridge as well.
BY SHARING OUR COOKIE DOUGH WE END UP WITH MORE COOKIE DOUGH!!??
Yes, and then we keep on eating... even other people's flavors we don't particularly like. By the way, don't get caught up in the metaphor and make a run for the kitchen to get yourself something sweet. Stay with me. Now comes the revelation:
COOKIE DOUGH IS BAD FOR YOU!
I don't like to tell people what's good or bad for them, who am I to say? So this is quite the statement for me, but I figure that we're all smart people here. We know that cookie dough is bad for us. I'm just the mouth piece of our collective knowingness that cookie dough is not healthy in the long run...
Then what do we do when our fridge is stocked full of cookie dough?
AH! Now here comes the interesting part. Two fairly straight forward things really:
- We start emptying the fridge of cookie dough
- We replace it with fresh, healthy, organic food
Pretty obvious right! Well, some people try putting a lock on the fridge and eat out all the time, which temporarily seems to work. The only thing is that the fridge doesn't go away but rather becomes this huge elephant in the room, taking up space and electricity even when left unopened.
Sure, you can shove the fridge into a corner so you can forget about it for a while but that's the equivalent of pushing all these thoughts back into your subconscious where they keep organizing reality for you.
What reality? The cookie dough kind. The one that you desperately want to change into a positive one.
SO DON'T LOCK THE FRIDGE!
Oh, before we get to our fridge let's not forget this part, repeat after me: I realize I'm addicted to eating cookie dough.
I bet you that sentence in itself brings up a lot of stuff. Don't even go there, this is not a meeting of Cookie Dough Anonymous. We're all addicted to our favorite flavor of cookie dough, let's be real and compassionate about it. Some like chocolate chip cookie dough (I do), others the plain kind. We all favor our own.
Seriously, someone once said that we think about 20.000 thoughts a day. The problem is that 99.9% of those thoughts are the same as yesterday's. And the day before. And tomorrow... Like I said:
COOKIE DOUGH
So how do you empty your fridge of cookie dough?
1. Take inventory
First of all by taking a real hard and honest look at what flavors you're packing in there and writing them all down. What are your fears, your concerns, your limiting beliefs and repetitive negative thoughts you're having?
No matter how uncomfortable you get, take inventory of all of them, even the tasty ones hidden in the back there.
What's next? Well, now that you know what your flavors are you can start by choosing what fresh, healthy, organic foods you want to replace the cookie dough with.
2. Choose the foods that are good for you (and everybody else in your world). Write those down as well.
What do you want to think about yourself? What thoughts would be supportive of your goals in life? Which ones counteract the cookie dough ones?
Remember; it's the thoughts that create the feelings (cookie dough tastes sweet and makes you feel good... initially... for a while... until it makes you feel sick to your stomach).
Thinking healthy thoughts results in having healthy feelings saturating your system: mind IN body!
3. Start every day with at least 15 minutes of affirming broccoli
Start your day creating good feelings in your system by affirming positive thoughts that counteract the yucky cookie dough ones. Then continue throughout your day; sing them, hum them, shout them out, make it into an opera, whatever you do: keep affirming them.
BUT IT'S HARD WORK AND COOKIE DOUGH IS TEMPTING ME
4. Discipline your mind
Yep, the good 'ol D-word. Discipline. DISCIPLINE. DISCIPLINE.
Use your will power when your mind turns to cookie dough again. You'll have to start disciplining yourself to think happy thoughts. There's just no way around it. It will take discipline because after many years of thinking A, B, C your mind is not set up to think X, Y Z. Oh, just so it's clear: no one is gonna do it for you.
IT'S ALL UP TO YOU. YOUR LIFE AND EVERYTHING IN IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
Not what you wanted to hear? I know... it sucks. But what if the cookie dough theory proves to be accurate? Well then, life could be glorious and full of joy, abundance and well-being! Really, we're not meant to feel miserable. We're meant to feel happiness and love running through us. At all times. In huge quantities!
REALLY? WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO FEEL GOOD?
Meditation to strengthen and learn to focus the mind so you can be more effective in using it positively.
Breathwork techniques to help empty your fridge of cookie dough.
Visualization to create positive images that in turn create happy and positive feelings in your system (it's sugar free!).
Chanting to create a sense of well being and joy (chanting is like a glass of fresh orange juice)
Community gatherings to feel supported and join hearts in creating a positive world (you might pick up some new recipes for joy).
Watch a movie that inspires and delights (stay clear of violence and all the stuff you don't want in your life anyway... you know what that is)
Listen to your favorite music to FEEL GOOD.
Still hard work? Of course. I never said it was going to be a stroll in the park on a sunny afternoon. However, soon enough you'll find more healthy, organic food in your fridge than cookie dough. And once the balance shifts it gets easier and easier. Once the momentum behind the broccoli builds, an avalanche of goodness is coming your way and you'd better be ready to feel ridiculously happy most of the time!
HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, DID YOU SAY MOST OF THE TIME?
Yep, most of the time. I did not say all the time. Why not? Because it's the cookie dough that forces us to look at ourselves. Cookie dough is in our fridge for a reason. It helps us become who we are meant to be. So be compassionate toward yourself and others. Love your cookie dough and your neighbors' too.
