I love food. 

No, scratch that. I love junk food. 

I can go through a full day without eating a proper meal but resisting the urge to have my sweets is a daily struggle; you know, the cookies, chocolates, ice-cream, coke, cake, more cake and even more cake! I can have cake for breakfast, lunch, dinner and as a snack in between the three meals. True story! My favourite cookies are the Made-In-Nigeria Mcvitie’s shortbread cookies. I can make a 15-minute drive from our house to the African store just to buy a pack to satisfy my cravings. Whenever I have family visiting from Nigeria, I always request for a few packs. Horrible habit, I must confess! 

As a younger adult, I did not experience the immediate consequences of indulging in this unhealthy habit because I was physically active, I did a lot of house chores and my daily schedule was quite stressful. It was easy to burn the calories. As I grew older, especially after giving birth to our 4th child, I realised how tough it was to indulge and still stay fit, while avoiding the health challenges that come with it.

A few months ago, I noticed a significant change in my dress-size. I didn’t like it. I also observed that whenever I made an attempt to run up the stairs at home, I would have to pause after the brief run to catch my breath. I’m talking about less than twenty stairs! Most days, I would feel a bit heavy, tired and sleepy. I knew it had to do with my diet, among other things so I decided to do something about it. I changed my diet and my meal schedule. After a few weeks, I noticed a huge difference. My clothes could fit, I could go up and down the stairs without losing my breath, I could effortlessly keep my eyes open while at work, I felt lighter and more energetic during the day and I became more alert mentally than I was in the previous months. 

I was thinking about this a few days ago; reflecting on how my daily consumption of random edibles can gradually affect my health. I also thought about the other things we consume that are destructive to our total wellbeing. As we take in food with our mouths, we also take in “food” with our ears. The things we hear can either make or mar us. When we continuously yield our ears to negative conversations, words, news, views, or information, it gradually slips into our hearts, influences our thoughts and belief system and sometimes, pulls us away from God’s original purpose and plan for our lives. 

We have to be careful with and intentional about WHO and WHAT we expose our ears and our hearts to. 

WHO are you constantly listening to? Whose voice is the loudest in your life? The ‘WHO’ is not necessarily the person in their physical form; rather it is the mindset and the belief system they have and are trying to pass on to you. Here is an illustration to make it clearer. If someone repeatedly says to me, “you are a failure. You can never get it right in life”, it is an attempt to make me believe and accept that I am indeed a failure. Therefore, in order to stop this from influencing my thoughts about who I am, I have to stop paying attention to the individual’s negative mindset about me, without being rude or disrespectful. In other words, irrespective of who the person is and their position in my life, if their communication stirs up fear, self-doubt, anger, bitterness, or any form of negative emotions in me, it is my responsibility to protect myself by walking away, shutting down or refusing to listen to that version of their personality. I hope this makes sense.

WHAT are you constantly listening to? In recent times, we see nations all over the world going through tough seasons. There are wars and rumours of wars, killings and other wicked acts. Sometimes, it feels like the world has not had a break since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. There is a constant influx of bad news on the various information channels – television, radio, social media.  It is worse on social media because on those platforms, anyone can share anything, whether true or false, verified or unverified. We are also exposed to verbal toxicity from the environment we find ourselves per time. Some of the things we hear daily are not pleasing to the ears and if we are not careful, they can influence our thoughts and belief system. It is our responsibility to place an imaginary sieve over our ears and where necessary, build a hedge around them to prevent or stop this negative information from going beyond the boundaries we have set.

If you need to turn your television off, do it. If you need to go off social media for a while or forever, do it. If you need to ask a loved one to desist from sending links that contain harsh information to you, do it. If you need to restrict them from having online access to you, do it. If you need to avoid having conversations with a negative or toxic person, do it. If you need to change your circle, do it.  Do what you need to do to protect your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body from destructive ‘food’. 

Hear what the Bible says:

“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Some of our thoughts are shaped by what we hear. If we hear right, we will think right, so make it a habit to intentionally feed your ears with the right food because you are what you eat.