MKE Week 7 – Going on a Diet

This is a different kind of diet though, the 7-Day Mental Diet!  And it is challenging!  I need to go 7 days without thinking negatively!

The first challenge is just realizing how often those negative thoughts creep in, yikes!  And I think of myself as a very positive person!  The first day I just observed and realized maybe I’m not as positive as I thought.

Monday night I was in an excellent state of mind just before bed. Feeling joyful, buzzing with positive vibrations. Imagine my surprise when I woke up a couple hours later from a violent and disturbing dream. Where did that come from? I don’t normally have bad dreams, and after having such good feelings prior to falling asleep, it just didn’t seem fair. Question: does a bad dream count for the Mental Diet?

Anyway, as I lay there rather disturbed from my dream, I decided to turn it around. In my mind, I called all the “actors” together, and told them: “We don’t do negative here, there will be no violence, no profanity, no hurtful words.”  Then I went back to sleep.  The rest of the night was fine.  And no bad dreams since.

Tuesday I had a couple of slips. Sometimes my husband is just a bit annoying. We enjoy a loving relationship, but sometimes he just gets on my nerves.  And then on Wednesday I went to work and got sucked into the complaining vortex.  Oh well, start over.

Today was great.  Until I read about the shooting.  Usually I don’t read the news.  So, though I do feel bad, I just decided to send love.  That did make me feel better.  But again, start over.

It is like working out – hard!  And like working out, we get stronger, inside and out.  Sometimes I feel like every thing is coming together, and sometimes I feel like “what do I think I’m doing?”  But I will persist!

Things that have worked so far with the mental diet:

1. Substitution: I have a “Happy” playlist on my phone, so I think of the songs on the playlist, maybe sing a few bars in my head.
2. Love: Just like in the Greatest Salesman, I say “I love you” silently, and just send waves of love to the person or event that I am dealing with.
3. Be rubber, not glue: Emmet Fox says “Let him talk, but do not accept what he says, and your diet will not be affected.” and also “Nothing said or done by anyone else can possibly throw you off the diet. Only your own reaction to the other person’s conduct can do that.” So be rubber – let it bounce off you.

In other news: I got my DMP back today, with only a couple of minor suggestions, I felt great!  And I did my recording. I used some songs from my “Signature Songs” playlist (yes, I have a few playlists):  All you Need is Love, I Can See Clearly, Hallelujah, Imagine.  I look forward to listening.  Usually I don’t like listening to my voice recorded, but this time I don’t mind.