World Peace Starts Between Your Ears

People who struggle with weight are in hell, a constant battle. The urge to enjoy a deep bite into a cheesey piece of pizza or a late night bowl of ice cream is a missile fired at the ego.

The next morning, staring at the in the mirror, the ego fires a missile back at that desire for instant gratification. So you decide to work it off. Later that day, you're exhausted, and the last thing you feel like doing is working out. So you launch a brigade of promises back at the ego that you will start "soon" with the exercise program. Then with that defense in place, you see the ice cream container, and reach for it, knowing you made a promise to the ego that you would start "soon".

Two weeks go by. The ego gangs up with a lack of energy to criticize the lifestyle. So maybe you do a little workout. The next morning you look in the mirror and still see the gut from the last couple weeks of eating, and the amount of work it will take to lose the gut seems like a huge commitment of hard work - too huge. You promise the ego that, instead of a big workout program, you will walk every night. Meanwhile the kids didn't finish their mac and cheese and in order to "feel" like they ate an entire dinner, you take the last few bites. The hell of the battle rages on in your mind. "What are you doing?" You ask yourself. It's impossible to understand. But the cookie jar is full, and they will go stale if they aren't eaten. So you eat them.

This is why I am never above the plight of the Beachbody customer, because that is the same hell that is between my own ears. Plus there's the added pain of being CEO of a fitness company, and the pressure to "live right" gets even more intense. (I've even found myself managing my exposure to our trainers when I am feeling extra out of it.)

So if this is familiar, you are not alone. I am in it too. We both have our own little unresolved battle within our minds. Self-loathing, unforgiveness, guilt, shame, anger and a yearning for gratification in a world that is loaded with pressure, judgment, and relentless expectations.

We expect the war in Iraq to be resolved by politicians and a polarized group of native citizens with various agenda and beliefs while we alone can barely control the war in our very own minds. As trivial as it seems, I think it's all related. If you can't find a way to foster "PEACE" in your mind about this issue, or that grievance against yourself, how can we expect entire peoples to quickly snap into a new mindset? Patience is key. Patience and intent, real commitment. Intent means, we need to get our own houses in order -- the house between our ears, where the primary battle ensues. And that is a constant process of listening to your own thoughts, exploring you unconscious choices, and the real discomfort that lies just behind the self-defeating choices you may be making.

Next time you seek that giant piece of cake, think of it as an end to a cease fire. When you are reaching for the fourth slice of pizza, consider how you are disrupting the potential for your own peace of mind. And then reconsider it.

I am not advocating a diet where you can't enjoy the foods you love. I am saying, we need to be careful with a little self-indulgence can upset the situation. Stay in control. Have an agreement with yourself. Keep the agreement. Maintain the peace of mind.

And maybe then we might have an easier time maintaining the peace with the neighbor who hasn't returned your grill since July 4th, and so on.

Where does peace start? Between your ears.

That is how I am approaching the process of lifestyle in my mind these days. Let me know if that's helpful to you in any way.