Are You a Jerk? Human Toxins and Their Antidotes

Have you noticed the number of articles bombarding us with conflicting information about the possible toxic effect of using plastic bottles manufactured with the industrial chemical BPA (bisphenol A)?

While we’re waiting for the jury of scientists to return with a definitive conclusion, I’d like to spotlight a more immediate threat to our well-being and emotional health—human toxins. Poisonous social contagions are invisible, hard to measure and difficult to defend against. Yet they can easily pollute our outlook and sabotage our efforts to make positive lifestyle changes, including weight loss.

I’m referring to the words we say to ourselves and the words others say to us. Just as a smile can lift our spirits, a self-critical, undermining thought or an unexpected outburst of anger can suck the joy right out of the day.

I wrote about these human toxins in an article title "Being Poisoned by "Your" Friends?" that appeared on www.basilandspice.com on August 26, 2008. Go here for the full article. I also shared some of the strategies I use and recommend to train and condition my mind to remain balanced, stable and mentally fit (FIT):

F Find alternative ways to interpret the negative event. Seek to find something positive in the experience. Focus on improving yourself rather than on obsessing over the shortcomings of the person who wronged you. Laugh it off—some encounters aren’t worth fretting over.

I Invest your time in a constructive, creative effort rather than in regret for the past. Resist the impulse to get even. A well-lived life and a tranquil persona are the best responses to others’ dysfunctional behavior. When difficulties arise, consider the event an opportunity to practice your newfound equipoise.

T Take the time to allow the full range of emotions to surface. Being present and aware on a moment-to-moment basis, even during the tough moments, speeds up our ability to throw off toxins. Take a minivacation—read a book, listen to your favorite music or go for a walk. Tell your friends and family if you are having a tough time and need some extra tender-loving care. Few of us get through life without occasional rough patches. Allow others to comfort you.

You can also practice social selectivity—that is, you can remove people who regularly wreck havoc from your world. Granted, this step is a difficult one to take—particularly if a friend or relative is involved—but extreme behavior calls for an extreme solution.

Managing our internal voice and sustaining an optimistic outlook are mental muscles you can strengthen with practice. When you are tackling weight loss and fitness, a positive mind-set is the most valuable tool you can have. I work hard to guard mine. What are your strategies?

"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change of in attitude." Katherine Mansfield