Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Beliefs: How is that working for you?

I'm re-reading a book called The Gabriel Method: The Revolutionary Diet-Free Way to Totally Transform Your Body. I read it a year or so ago, and the thoughts have helped me become a better eater: I now tend to eat more nutritious foods. I think that has contributed to my lower blood pressure and some weight loss, despite too much celebratory eating of the "free" food that shows up at work.

Stone-scape at Joshua Tree NP


One theme of the book is cultivating the belief that it is safe to be thin. As I went to bed last night, I rehearsed in my mind some of the Bible verses that give me personal assurance the my Heavenly Father "has my back." I slept very well: the best I've slept since school ended last Friday. Ahhh... thanks, I needed that.

Desert Bloom


Today, I came across this paragraph:

"Beliefs can control our entire reality because they act like reality filters. If we believe something is possible or will happen, we open up a range of possibilities to allow particular realities to occur. On the other hand, if we think that something is difficult or impossible to accomplish, we shut ourselves off from the possibilities, thus almost ensuring that an even will not occur. The harder we think something is to achieve, the harder achieving it will become. As the saying goes, argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours. However, the easier we thing something is to achieve, the easier we make it for ourselves." (Page 26).

Grow where you are planted?


How's your reality these days? Time for a belief check? To what extent do you monitor and upgrade your beliefs? Something to ponder...
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6 comments:

  1. raeJune 23, 2011 at 5:29 AM

    Interesting question, and timely. Experience and beliefs certainly feed off each other - this post was a good reminder not to let one rule the other. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. DonJune 23, 2011 at 8:19 AM

    @rae: Thanks for the comment. I like what you say, "...a good reminder not to let one rule the other." Balance is often the key factor. Good point.

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  3. dennistheeremiteJune 29, 2011 at 2:46 PM

    I can't imagine being afraid of being thin. What's behind that idea? Don, it was good to spend some time with you.

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  4. DonJune 29, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    @Dennis: Sometimes extra fat is a body's response to danger, like starvation, freezing, or abuse. The body feels threatened and begins to store fat as a protection against starvation, cold, or psychological traumas. The body concludes: it is safer to be fat. I won't starve, freeze, and people will leave me alone if I'm big. (I too enjoyed our 360 mile day trip.)

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  5. dennistheeremiteJuly 1, 2011 at 12:13 AM

    Maybe this is a subject to pursue elsewhere but, for me, as a bullied kid, my dream (fantasy) was not to be big or strong, but to be invisible, or (sometimes) so very small as to go unseen. For me to be noticed or noticeable was to be at risk.

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  6. DonJuly 1, 2011 at 11:44 AM

    @Dennis: According to John Gabriel, that's the other side of the same coin. Some eating disorders, or just thin-ness could be a body's reaction to threats such as danger.

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