Heroes Not Zombies

Nourish.

What about making this your verb of the week? What about asking yourself about your choices and your actions every day…..is this nourishing me? What, or who am I nourishing?

I imagine when you think of nourishing, first of all you think of food and feeding…..which makes me instantly think about two stories – the one from Native American tradition of the hungry wolves –

One evening an old Cherokee warrior told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.’ The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’ The old Cherokee simply replied. The one you feed.’

and the one from Thich Nhat Hahn about watering seeds –

Your mind is like a piece of land planted with many different kinds of seeds: seeds of joy, peace, mindfulness, understanding, and love; seeds of craving, anger, fear, hate, and forgetfulness. These wholesome and unwholesome seeds are always there, sleeping in the soil of your mind. The quality of your life depends on the seeds you water. If you plant tomato seeds in your gardens, tomatoes will grow. Just so, if you water a seed of peace in your mind, peace will grow. When the seeds of happiness in you are watered, you will become happy. When the seed of anger in you is watered, you will become angry. The seeds that are watered frequently are those that will grow strong.

So, let’s think about nourishing the body, the mind and the spirit.

I’ve often been asked about dietary advice and my response is to say we are all different and what is good for one person at one time, might not be so good for another or at another time. I like Michael Pollan’s Food Rules – especially….”eat food”, “mainly plants”, “not too much”! But have a think when you eat this week, “is this nourishing for me?”

When if comes to the mind, are you aware of certain thoughts or feelings being more nourishing than others? When you worry, does that feeling nourishing? When you ruminate, does that feel nourishing? When you make goals, think positively, focus on the present, does that nourish you?

And when it comes to the spirit, I’d take a little while to explore what nourishes your soul – your soul as Thomas Moore describes it – think how we use the word “soul” – soul food, soul music, soul mate – what are those for you? What is your soul food, which music stirs your soul, who are your soul mates? Are there special places you can go to nourish your soul? How might you nourish your soul?

So, why not take a focus on nourishing this week? Nourish your body, nourish your mind, nourish your spirit, nourish those others who you encounter this week, nourish your world……