{"id":304,"date":"2019-05-08T15:21:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T15:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humancoachsa.com\/?p=304"},"modified":"2020-04-30T09:42:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T09:42:25","slug":"you-are-what-you-consume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/?p=304","title":{"rendered":"You Are What You Consume"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cYou are what you eat\u201d. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard this before. Which is by no means a knock, that\u2019s as true a truism as there is. The expression of your being, from your health, how you feel and how you think, is a direct result of the food you consume. Heard of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that anti-depressanst are based on? It\u2019s produced in your gut<\/a> by the bacteria that break down food, not in your brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today isn\u2019t about food. It\u2019s about consuming<\/strong>. Because when it comes to your health and wellbeing, consumption extends far beyond the boundaries of your dinner plate.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou are what you eat\u201d, sure. But really\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are what you consume\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Inspiration for this latest musing came during some of my own consuming \u2013 the consumption of a podcast. I am a proud, card-carrying (if there were cards) member of the podcast brigade. [More on the power of the podcast another day.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curiously, my inspiration today came from an unexpected source. I nearly didn\u2019t listen to Kevin Hart\u2019s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience because\u2026well, I don\u2019t care much for Kevin Hart as a comedian or actor. This is a parallel lesson – simply because someone does something you aren\u2019t a fan of it doesn\u2019t mean the actually somebody, i.e. the person, doesn\u2019t have something worthwhile to say and share. A bit of a side note, but one I wanted to include in these seemingly ever widening polarized times.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alrighty, back to the main thread \u2013 consuming<\/strong>. We live in the era of consumerism. This now extends far beyond its traditional understanding of purchasing products. We are constantly consuming the external world. And the evolution of consumption that most concerns me about our health and wellbeing is the consumption of time<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo everything else from the outside that comes in, your throwing shit at a bubble that can\u2019t be popped. There\u2019s a force field around me. So if you don\u2019t add to that force field, <\/em>
if you don\u2019t make my force field stronger, you don\u2019t get time from me<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what resonated with me from Kevin Hart. Particularly the last bit \u2013 \u201cyou don\u2019t get time from me<\/strong>\u201d. Time is utterly fascinating. At a quantum physics level it\u2019s arguably an illusion. There are also contradictory ideas concerning whether it actually is a linear phenomenon, with a past, present and future, or whether time is circular, repeating itself endlessly and even simultaneously. Now, these are cognitively fun ideas and soon could prove important, but irrespective of the \u201ctruth\u201d, from your perspective time is happening right now And right now I\u2019m imploring you to consider time as the fundamental basis for your health and wellbeing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are constantly choosing how to consume time.
And what you choose to consume time with will create your life.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This two-fold realization, how and what, has yielded immensely impactful results for me personally. Once it truly sunk in that life is simply a series of decisions<\/strong> about what to do with one\u2019s time and how the thinking, feeling and actions resulting from those decisions literally manifest the experience of your life, I embarked on carefully and consciously curating how I consumed time. And now, like Kevin Hart, absolutely wherever possible, I do not give time to anything that is not going to make my force field bigger, stronger, wiser, healthier and happier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a never-ending pursuit given our inescapable consumption of time. It is additionally all encompassing.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you consuming physically? What are you consuming audibly? <\/strong>
Visually? Socially? Emotionally? Mentally? Psychologically? Spiritually? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because everything you do is interacting with and affecting each and every one of those modalities and resulting in the very reality that feels like your life. They are not isolated entities but rather an inseparable unfathomably connected circular and simultaneous network that creates the very being of you<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything<\/strong> must be considered. Yes, what you eat and drink and how much physical movement you do, how much you sleep and how well, all of that will always be critical. But this goes far farther. What kind of conversations are you having in your life? Who are the people you are spending time with? What are you watching, listening to and reading to entertain yourself? Or distract yourself? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, what kind of emotions does all of that trigger? What kind of thoughts are manifested? Are the people, places and things you expend time on making you feel sad, anxious, disillusioned, angry, afraid and weight-down? Or is your time spent resulting in connection, support, peace, laughter and hope? Because, how we choose to consume time is precisely that, a choice<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you doing things that strengthen your force field,<\/strong>
or is your time being spent leaking energy into dis-ease provoking activities?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This concept can also be considered as having an active relationship with time<\/strong>. Are you using time consciously, thoughtfully, intentionally, purposefully<\/strong> aka you are consuming time? Or is your relationship with time passive, aka time is consuming you. The prime example \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t have time\u201d. I don\u2019t have time to cook. I don\u2019t have time to exercise. I\u2019m too busy to take care of myself. I don\u2019t have time to do this or for that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying this, you are taking away your agency and giving it to time. It is also factually incorrect. It\u2019s impossible to not have time. We all have time. We all have the exact same amount of it. Time is the great equalizer<\/strong>. The differentiator is how we choose to use time and what to do with it<\/strong>. For example, I choose to spend an hour preparing and cooking (what) versus watching Netflix and I choose to cook a clean, health promoting meal with passion and purpose (how) versus a lazy meal with frustration and hurriedness.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we are in the realm of priorities<\/strong>, sacrifice<\/strong> and at the most fundamental level motivation<\/strong>. When our priorities are deeply aligned with our motivations we make sacrifices<\/strong>. I want to accomplish X goal therefore I will prioritize X over doing Y and therefore substitute the time I use to spend doing Y to do X.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now consider these questions. What\u2019s the number one thing you know would benefit your health and wellbeing that you wish you did? Why aren\u2019t you doing it? What else are you allocating times to? Are these other activities contributing positively to your wellness? Are these other activities bringing you one step closer to being the person you want to be and living the life you want to live? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you feel our time together was well spent. And I wish you health and wellbeing as you curate the present and possibilities of your life by consciously choosing the consumption of your time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image credit:
Photo by\u00a0Aron Visuals<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclaimer:
Remember dear reader, I am neither a doctor nor any sort of medical physician in any capacity. None of the information presented above can be construed as any sort of medical advice in any sort of manner. You as the reader is solely responsible for creating and implementing your own physical, mental and emotional well-being, decisions, choices and actions. As such, the reader agrees that the author is not and will not be liable or responsible for any actions or inaction taken by the reader or for any direct or indirect results. This information is simply presented and whatever you decide to do with it is your choice and your responsibility. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to your health and wellbeing, consumption extends far beyond the boundaries of your dinner plate. \u201cYou are what you eat\u201d, sure. But really, \u201cYou are what you consume\u201d.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,37],"tags":[48,58,57],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","category-life","tag-choice","tag-responsibility","tag-time","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}