S4 Ep14: Why Be Mindful of What You Consume?

No matter what it is – food, media, entertainment, drugs – you have ultimate control Consumption isn’t only about food and drink. It’s also about what you watch, read, listen to, see, and take in. Ours is the ultimate consumer society. Overall, people can connect, communicate, learn, and consume vast amounts of anything you can conceive of, tangible or intangible. Despite all the news and information about so many negatives, the world isn’t a dangerous place on the brink of self-destruction Junk food for the mind, body, and soul is too readily available Lack of mindfulness of what we consume is how we wind up consuming a lot of junk food for the mind. This is not just food and drink, it’s everything. News, information, entertainment, advertising, religion, government, take your pick. Whether it’s to eat a cookie or an apple or watch kitten videos on YouTube or propaganda-spewing influencers, you have a choice. What you eat and what you watch will impact your health, wellness, and overall wellbeing. This will be true of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self. How do you be mindful of everything you consume? All mindfulness on every level begins with the same thing. It’s active conscious awareness. To engage mindfulness, all you need to do is ask and answer any of these questions, here and now: ·        What am I thinking? ·        What am I feeling? ·        How am I feeling? ·        What do I intend? ·        What am I doing? These can only genuinely be answered in the moment. Asked of the past or the future, you can’t know or trust the answers. That’s because the past has bias and experiential pitfalls while the future is uncertain and unknown. To be mindful of what you consume, you need to ask questions, here and now, like, ·        Why or why not consume this news/food/drink/information? ·        Will consuming this make me feel good or feel bad? ·        Is this consumable good for me or bad for me? ·        What value, if any, is in this consumable? These and questions like them, asked and answered here and now, tell you if what you’re about to consume is helpful or harmful. What does it take to be mindful of what you consume? Awareness. Recognition. Acknowledgment. Action. First, awareness that you can choose what you consume, Then, you can recognize what those choices are. After that, acknowledge them as above and how they’ll impact your health, wellness, and wellbeing. Finally, act on it. Make mindful choices about what you’re consuming. When it comes to what you consume, more mindfulness of it allows you to choose healthy versus unhealthy options, whether they’ll impact you physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or all the above. This empowers you to take the control that is your right for how to live your life. This week’s Applied Guidance for Mindfulness Tool: At least once a day, for the next week, be mindful of what you consume. Write down these questions and ask them before you consume food, drink, information, social media, or the like. ·        Why or why not consume this news/food/drink/information? ·        Will consuming this make me feel good or feel bad? ·        Is this consumable good for me or bad for me? ·        What value, if any, is in this consumable? If possible, write the answers down immediately. Otherwise, write them down when you can (within the same day, please). Does this make you feel more aware of what you’re consuming?   Author Website Email Instagram Facebook LinkedIn TikTok Blogs: titaniumdon.com and mjblehart.medium.com Cover artist Fe Mahoney: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TaliasInspirations