‘The Seven-day Mental Diet by Emmet Fox is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life. It is the thoughts you allow yourself to think, the subjects that you allow your mind to dwell upon, which make you and your surroundings what they are’
A few months ago, I came across the 7 Day Mental Diet by Emmet Fox, the author was an Irish New Thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century, and for many now, 100 years later, his method is still very actual and interesting. The object of the diet is to carefully select your thoughts for 7 days. We usually think that the thoughts are coming to our mind and we have no control over them. But the truth is that maybe we cannot control the first thought that comes up, but we can control the second one, which is our reaction to the first one. The idea of the mental diet is to not facilitate any negative thought for 7 days. Of course, negative thoughts or emotions are going to come, as it is impossible to avoid them, but we just need to let them go and focus on positive side. You will find the full text of the diet here: https://bridgethegaptoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/The-Seven-day-Mental-Diet-ebook.pdf
In our lives we are often stuck with negativity, this could be created by ourselves or by others, this could come from the information that we are receiving all the time through the news, social media, newspapers, television programs. In the times we live in now the information comes from every side. Through the phone that everyone has in their pocket we can connect with anyone in the world, we can connect with any event that could be happening at the other side of the globe. As much as this is positive and allows us to be closer to others, it gives us access to knowledge and information but also opens the door to all the bad news, to the world that we should not necessarily be engaging with. Unfortunately, often the bad news travels faster and it is more popular, it takes the main space on the front page and we cannot avoid it.
The 7 day mental diet helps us to be more selective, helps us to understand that we can, and we should control our thoughts, its up to us to decide what thought we would like to engage with, do we want to live our lives full of positive energy or do we choose to believe that we are unlucky and keep attracting negativity to our lives. The main rule of the diet is to not engage in negative emotions, thoughts and actions for 7 days, if during this time we will facilitate negativity we have to start all over again. It is important to pick the right time to start your diet, if you are aware of some stressful events coming your way postpone it until more peaceful times but start thinking about your diet straight away. Start noticing your thoughts, analyse your way of thinking, see what brings negativity into your life, see if you can change it. Your thoughts are not yourself, you can have full control over the way you are thinking, if you can change it and control your thoughts you will attract the life you deeply desire.
Doing the 7-day mental diet was a big challenge for myself, I have tried and failed a few times on the way, sometimes very close to the finish line. I got through once and now I often come back to it. It gets easier with time as your way of thinking changes, as it is quicker now that I realize when I am letting negative thoughts to influence my choices, I can change them before it is too late. I have noticed that while I am in control of my thoughts, I am more present and conscious, I do not let the emotions and other people to influence my reactions. I believe that key to a successful diet is preventing yourself from reacting straight away and placing yourself in the position of a witness, not engaging in every situation but giving yourself the time to think about it, allowing the positive approach. This diet is a life changing exercise for someone who is open to change, enjoy…
