My dearest friend,
How have you been? My past week had been challenging which I loved! I feel like I’ve put in a hundred percent of my efforts to make progress on my personal venture – of which I won’t bore you with. Since yesterday, I’ve been resting my mind & focusing on something else: re-reading some of my favourite books & planning our weekly meals. Today, I want to share with you how a single thought can inspire change, I originally wanted to talk about my career but feel that this is something more relatable.
About three months ago, I’ve written a personal observation on my journal about how I have been feeling unhealthy & weak, so I made a decision to revisit this healthy lifestyle I used to practice for years.* Because of this single idea, this thought – I reflected on how I consume, how I relate with food, how I express creativity & joy through my plate, if I give enough time for training & movement, how I process my emotions, and if I still listen well to my body & its true needs. In other words, I simply decided to bring back mindfulness in how I live & check which worked, which didn’t and what needed improvement.
“The process of change begin as a thought. Put out there what you want to achieve; see it daily in your mind’s eye. Develop an internal thought process that will direct your unconscious mind to a set of behaviours that will give you whatever you want, whatever the obstacles you have met in the past or meet along the way.” –Janet Thomson MSc
In the past, I’ve observed that whenever I would feel unhealthy, I do actually look unhealthy**; I tend to self-sabotage more; I think & speak poorly, and I don’t make the necessary efforts to take good care of myself & my needs. This is counterproductive because I should prioritize & value myself otherwise, I won’t be able to give anything valuable to others as well. Meanwhile, whenever I felt good about my mind & my body, I found it easier to manage my projects, communicate with clients, deliver my tasks, tap into my creativity & be present with my ohana.
“What thoughts are you putting out there? What thoughts are you getting back? The quality of the thoughts you transmit will determine the quality of the thoughts & experiences you get back.” –Janet Thomson, MSc
Because of this one thought “to live healthier” – this one decision to take better care of myself – our weekly meals have been consistently improving, which is now better designed for healthy consumption of a variety of real, fresh foods & less highly processed foods. We have more types of food now in our fridge – complete with fruits, vegetables, protein & some snacks that we still like every now & then; plus, we invested in an indoor exercise equipment which gives us the opportunity to move more despite working from home & allow us to still put in our reps on days when we don’t feel like going for a walk, jog, swim or doing weight & resistance band training.
First, you have to decide what you truly want, then the universe will give you the how through multiple opportunities so you can achieve this goal you have in mind & when it does, you should take the right action.
For a few weeks now, I’ve been considering how to make this healthy change easier & more engaging for us. In the past years, hun & I would buy all of our needs from the groceries thinking it was the best way to simplify an ‘errand.’ But since the other week, we actually made a huge step towards positive change by trying to visit our local market & purchasing there instead of how we usually did it in the past which was to get everything from supermarket chains. Because of this one small change, we now get more excited about our weekly meals. It turns out that shopping from our local market also helps lower our expenses significantly.
“There are always choices & there are always consequences to these choices.” –Janet Thomson, MSc
We also have a better understanding of what “slow food” truly means & how it positively impacts us biologically so we decided to order less takeouts too. This healthy lifestyle, that we now choose consistently & unconsciously, empowers us with better choices & gives us more freedom to consume whenever we need to. We also have a better appreciation of how good real, fresh food tastes & how filling & satisfying home prepped & cooked meals are compared to things we order online & canned or packed food filled with preservatives & unnatural favors & colors.
Consuming food daily helps us sustain life, it’s as natural as breathing. And every day, we make a lot of unconscious food decisions, we dont need to think if we’re hungry or if we’re simply trying to feel differently – if our established associations tell us that getting the most attractive thing from our pantry would make us feel “better” or “full,” we just do it without second thought. So the goal after having awareness is to take the right actions – no matter how small – that would eventually compound to make these healthy decisions automatic.
“It’s never too late to reject a negative suggestion. The moment you begin to think & believe it’s not true, is the moment you negate its effects completely. If you no longer validate it, then it’s no longer true. You can always reject negativity and choose to have different, positive thoughts.” –Janet Thomson, MSc
It’s a positive action to take good care of yourself – it’s the only way you could show up with good energy every day. We need to train ourselves to be strong too ’cause if we can’t even will our own bodies – if we cannot simply do what’s necessary to be physically healthy, how do we expect ourselves to deliver our tasks; complete our responsibilities; process our emotions; and be present to enjoy our unique experiences in life?
Is there any aspect of your life which you want to be more aware of and apply positive changes too? Let me know! 🙂
coffee soon,
Anne
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*This is a choice I made with consideration & I have a good understanding of the matter – please do not make abrupt changes without your own research & planning.
**I say this objectively – without judgment or shaming – I can do this because honesty is something I value & it always starts with myself. Janet Thomson calls this stage the “Conscious Incompetence” which could be a bridge for change. Without awareness, no change can begin to happen. It is something you have to first consciously accept & allow.