CROWDING OUT

She was coaching me when she said it and I haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since.  Crowding out, what a powerful concept, a perfect beginning to the journey.   I was on a call yesterday with a good friend of mine for nutrition consulting.  In nutrition/diet context, “crowding out” is the idea that if we begin adding more of the good things into our diet, versus wrestling with pulling out the bad stuff, the good stuff will win, overpower, and ultimately limit the poor choices altogether.  More veggies, water, lean protein, healthy snacks, and planning will mean less room for all the other junk.  This got me thinking.  If this concept works for our physical well-being, why wouldn’t it work for detoxing our mind and improving our emotional wellness too?

The temptation is plenty right now.  I feel it creeping everywhere--turning on the TV, reading the newspaper, scrolling social media, driving the empty streets, running past the yellow caution tape blocked off parks, along the mask filled grocery aisles of people darting and dashing to avoid getting too close.  Many people are playing full-on defense right now.  It’s a pandemic, it’s scary, it’s unpredictable, it’s evasive, I get it.  Here’s what I know to be true.  When we can’t control what’s happening on the outside, we can feel weak, a loss of control on the inside too.  This is why I love the idea of crowding out, it’s an inside job. What if, we begin prioritizing those habits that served us so well 60, 90, 120 days ago, before the pandemic? One habit at a time.  What if, one by one, we started adding the behaviors and decisions our future self will thank us for?  What if, we begin looking for the good news every day.  Intentionally seeking out the stories, the headlines, the hero experiences in all of this, and share them at home and on our newsfeeds?  What if, we return to those familiar routines that strengthen us?  

When we fuel our body with what optimizes, when we feed our mind with what inspires and lightens, when we feed our soul with gratitude and faith, we begin filling the space and energy around us.  There's no room for anything else.  When we show-up for ourselves, we get our control back.  Where will you begin (or start again) to crowd out the noise?