There has been a life principle I've been thinking on the past couple weeks and realizing how much this truth translates to every avenue of life. The principle is this: if you consume junk; you will crave junk.
I was initially thinking of this from a dietary perspective. I had a motto in high school that I lived by concerning vegetables: "If it's green, let it grow". While intentionally not eating anything green, I never craved healthy food. I ate junk, and therefore that's what I craved. I would get "hankerin's" for starches and sweets and soda, but I never just out of the blue wanted brussels sprouts, green beans or salad.
As I entered college, I began to realize that needed to change. My body is the temple of The Lord--and that temple should be honored. So--I decided to start incorporating healthy food (namely vegetables and fruits) into my diet. And you know what? I didn't immediately love them. I didn't immediately crave them when I was hungry. I craved the junk food I had trained my body to grow used to. But--eventually, when I was hungry, I began to crave the new foods I had made myself start eating.
This same principle rang true with working out. My body didn't crave a workout routine I was not engaged in. I'd much rather sit in a comfy chair and eat while watching TV than get in the floor and do sit ups. However, after getting into the routine of sit ups and running, that became time I looked forward to: alone time where I could think about and process the day. (I'm still trying to get in the full swing of this one--I'm trying to get to the point where I'd rather run than veg out watching television to process stressful things). Nonetheless--my body is moving towards craving exercise, and believe me this didn't happen overnight, or accidentally.
I'm finding this to also be true with thought patterns--if you meditate on junk--your mind defaults to junk in idle times. Junk thinking can be all kinds of things--hate, self-pity, anger, bitterness, lust, fear. You don't accidentally think nice things to those who do you wrong, you don't accidentally forgive, you don't accidentally undo a root of bitterness, you don't magically rework your lustful or fearful thinking. You don't crave things you aren't in the habit of doing. Just like with eating, and working out, your mind must be retrained to healthy patterns. Isn't it interesting we are okay with having to practice eating right, or practice working out to get strong, but we resign that we just naturally are fearful or worriers or bitter and there's nothing we can do about it?
There is something we can do! We can practice right thinking! Just like you have to intentionally put down the icecream and macaroni and cheese and reach for salad and green beans; you have to intentionally cast down wrong thinking and replace it, on purpose, with right thinking.
Hopefully this post will stir you to make changes. Maybe dietary, maybe exercise wise, maybe in your thinking patterns. Initially it will be hard. It takes effort and retraining your mind and body. But eventually--if you stick with it long enough--your body begins to crave the good.
Once you reach the place of moving past discipline and into desiring the new habit, it simply becomes your new way of life. And trust me, there's joy and satisfaction on the other side.
I was initially thinking of this from a dietary perspective. I had a motto in high school that I lived by concerning vegetables: "If it's green, let it grow". While intentionally not eating anything green, I never craved healthy food. I ate junk, and therefore that's what I craved. I would get "hankerin's" for starches and sweets and soda, but I never just out of the blue wanted brussels sprouts, green beans or salad.
As I entered college, I began to realize that needed to change. My body is the temple of The Lord--and that temple should be honored. So--I decided to start incorporating healthy food (namely vegetables and fruits) into my diet. And you know what? I didn't immediately love them. I didn't immediately crave them when I was hungry. I craved the junk food I had trained my body to grow used to. But--eventually, when I was hungry, I began to crave the new foods I had made myself start eating.
This same principle rang true with working out. My body didn't crave a workout routine I was not engaged in. I'd much rather sit in a comfy chair and eat while watching TV than get in the floor and do sit ups. However, after getting into the routine of sit ups and running, that became time I looked forward to: alone time where I could think about and process the day. (I'm still trying to get in the full swing of this one--I'm trying to get to the point where I'd rather run than veg out watching television to process stressful things). Nonetheless--my body is moving towards craving exercise, and believe me this didn't happen overnight, or accidentally.
I'm finding this to also be true with thought patterns--if you meditate on junk--your mind defaults to junk in idle times. Junk thinking can be all kinds of things--hate, self-pity, anger, bitterness, lust, fear. You don't accidentally think nice things to those who do you wrong, you don't accidentally forgive, you don't accidentally undo a root of bitterness, you don't magically rework your lustful or fearful thinking. You don't crave things you aren't in the habit of doing. Just like with eating, and working out, your mind must be retrained to healthy patterns. Isn't it interesting we are okay with having to practice eating right, or practice working out to get strong, but we resign that we just naturally are fearful or worriers or bitter and there's nothing we can do about it?
There is something we can do! We can practice right thinking! Just like you have to intentionally put down the icecream and macaroni and cheese and reach for salad and green beans; you have to intentionally cast down wrong thinking and replace it, on purpose, with right thinking.
Hopefully this post will stir you to make changes. Maybe dietary, maybe exercise wise, maybe in your thinking patterns. Initially it will be hard. It takes effort and retraining your mind and body. But eventually--if you stick with it long enough--your body begins to crave the good.
Once you reach the place of moving past discipline and into desiring the new habit, it simply becomes your new way of life. And trust me, there's joy and satisfaction on the other side.
