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Dealing With Mental and Emotional Toxins
355 Plays3 years ago
With concerns about pollution in our water, air, and food--microplastics, PFAs, lead, and so on, ad nauseum--we often forget about , or simply don't KNOW about, the toxins that can contaminate our thoughts and emotions. These toxins are insidious and often difficult to recognize unless they are pointed out to us. In this episode, I talk about the immaterial, but still dangerous, toxins that can be in our thoughts and emotions, and make some recommendations for dealing with them.
I hope you find the episode interesting, and get some benefit from it. Please feel free to share with your friends! And if you would like to give me some feedback, please do that, too!
Thanks so much.
I hope you find the episode interesting, and get some benefit from it. Please feel free to share with your friends! And if you would like to give me some feedback, please do that, too!
Thanks so much.
Recommended
Transcript
Testing medication for fentanyl
00:00:00
Speaker
Did your friend offer you a pick me up pill? If you take medication that didn't come from a pharmacy, it's important to test it for fentanyl. Fentanyl can be hiding anywhere. Pick up a test strip at your local pharmacy today and protect yourself from hidden fentanyl.
Understanding toxins through literature
00:00:15
Speaker
Poisons and toxins can be very mysterious and frightening things. Some of the most horrible literature in the world has been written about poisoning.
00:00:30
Speaker
In this episode, we're going to talk about the toxins that we can accumulate in our minds and our emotions that can damage us so badly.
Identifying invisible toxins
00:00:42
Speaker
Stay tuned. I have a question for you. Do you like consuming poison?
00:00:54
Speaker
Okay, it's not going to be about me asking you to stop smoking or eating too much sugar. It's something much more insidious, actually. Poison is another word for toxin. They're interchangeable. Toxin is usually a word that we hear. I have people like botanists use when they're talking about a plant, like maybe they're saying, hey, you shouldn't eat belladonna. Or maybe a term you hear on a detective show,
00:01:24
Speaker
When the detective asks, call someone who says, Hey, did the test show any toxins in the victim? But not all toxins are physical like arsenic or cyanide. It's like I said before, some toxins are much more insidious and sometimes harder to identify or discover their sources.
00:01:50
Speaker
I want to talk about those sort of toxins and why they are so very dangerous, primarily because they hide so well and because they are so universal that we don't even think about how poisonous and destructive they can be. So, sit up, pay attention, there'll be a test later.
00:02:12
Speaker
No, no, they won't. Unless you consider your own personal health to be a test that you really, really want to pass.
Can we change others?
00:02:22
Speaker
Now these invisible toxins that we encounter every day are toxic thoughts and toxic emotions. And it's really kind of hard to separate them because it's like saying toxic food and toxic drink.
00:02:38
Speaker
You know, you, you take both of them into your body, whether it's food or drink. So the emotions and the thoughts, they kind of go together. Anyway, let's look at a few of them. The first one I want to mention is I can change someone else as in like, um, no, I just know Bob or Susan or Bill or Mary is a really good person deep inside.
00:03:08
Speaker
If I form a relationship with him, with her, I'm sure I can turn them around. Okay. Let's just stop right there. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried to stop a bad habit or practice of your very own? How hard was it really? Um, how difficult was it to say, I don't know, stop smoking or cut back on sugar?
00:03:37
Speaker
or stop giving bad drivers the finger, or always, always, always drive under the posted legal speed limit. No sweat, huh? Yeah, it was easy, right? Right. Now think about it. You are in control of your own actions. But how easy was it to do that? Or better yet, how hard was it
00:04:04
Speaker
And if you are in control of yourself and it was that hard, how much more difficult will it be to change someone else when they are in the metaphorical driver's seat? For that matter, what gives you the right to change someone else or even think they need to be changed anyway? Who says they're wrong? Further, who says that whatever they're doing is not a stage in their own personal development?
00:04:34
Speaker
I know that I, myself, have been through times in my life where I later regretted what I had done. But honestly, even in those times, I learned lessons that were very helpful to me later. And even sometimes when the lessons were painful. We go through things, even of our own making,
00:04:57
Speaker
And sometimes the universe, God, however you choose to name it, uses those things to teach us lessons that we need to learn. Now you can help people to change if they want to change, but you can't change someone else, no matter how much you want to do it.
Is dissatisfaction a toxin?
00:05:18
Speaker
So don't set yourself up for all the heartache and stress that goes along with trying to change someone else.
00:05:25
Speaker
Okay. Let's talk about the next toxin. Chronic dissatisfaction. Oh, this job sucks. So you change jobs. It's all gone. This job sucks even more. So you'd be looking for another job or another house or another car or another partner and someone who's lived through that kind of turmoil. And finally, I believe I've gotten rid of that toxin.
00:05:56
Speaker
Let me let you in on a secret. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. But let's say for a moment that it is greener on the other side of this particular fence. There will always be another pasture fence that has even greener grass on the other side, no matter where you are. I'm not saying you have to settle for a lousy situation. Sometimes you need to change.
00:06:24
Speaker
But if you are someone who can't be satisfied no matter what, then you need to examine your mindset. Ask yourself, are you really dissatisfied with your situation or is it true that you are dissatisfied with yourself or how you're handling the situation? If you constantly try to remove yourself from every place or every situation that is uncomfortable for you,
00:06:55
Speaker
How will you grow? A weight lifter does not make muscles and get better at lifting weights by picking up things that are light and easy to lift. If it's not a challenge, it does not help you to improve. Constantly hopping from one situation to the next just to try to find something better causes a lot of physical, mental, and emotional instability.
Do relationships complete us?
00:07:21
Speaker
And you don't really need that in your life.
00:07:25
Speaker
Okay, next thing. How about having a special personal relationship, making your life perfect? Guess what? It will not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is really, really super great to find that special connection with the other person, male or female, who really seems to understand and relate to you. But it will not create a life or relationship without conflict, stress and annoyance.
00:07:55
Speaker
It may make it easier to deal with a conflict, handle the stress or get past the annoyance, but those things will still be there. It is a part of being a mature person to realize that no relationship is perfect, but sometimes the benefits outweigh the imperfections and the end result is a relationship that helps both people develop and meet their maximum potential and level of happiness.
00:08:25
Speaker
And sometimes that relationship has to end for both people to grow into what they can be. I guess I have another question that's, why do you think you need a special relationship that completes you? Really? Yeah, it's fantastic to have someone to share special moments with you. And even the not so special moments.
00:08:50
Speaker
but the truth is no one needs someone else to complete them. Each of us is enough and if you cannot learn to be happy when you are alone, you will never be truly happy even when you are with someone else. Each of us is created to thrive even when we are alone and we need to understand we are not incomplete just because we don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife.
Is there only one right way?
00:09:21
Speaker
Here's a toxin that we see all the time in today's socio-political landscape and that is Thought this is only one way that's right and anything else is absolutely wrong How many times do you hear this in the news or maybe not the news but some commentary Senator blank is a member of the whatever party and that party's policies are all destructive to our country Or maybe
00:09:51
Speaker
My friends, if you do not believe the words of this particular holy book and live free from whatever their pet sin might be, you will then be consigned to everlasting damnation in a lake of fire and brimstone. Now, just a reminder for centuries, being left-handed was condemned as a sin. And even in Victorian times, children were sometimes beaten for being left-handed.
00:10:21
Speaker
It's no mistake that the word sinister comes from the Latin word sinistra, or left side. Almost every decision in the world has more than one correct choice, no matter what it is. Is it always a good choice to execute someone found guilty of murder? You might say, well, of course it is, but what about all those times people have been discovered to be innocent after they were executed?
00:10:50
Speaker
Is it always a good policy to restrict immigration? What about all those immigrants who came here and later became Nobel prize winners? Is it even always a good choice to eliminate all fats from your diet? And what about all those nutrients that are fat soluble? And unless they are eaten along with some kind of fat, they pass through your body without even having any benefit. Every broad statement about this
00:11:19
Speaker
is always wrong and I or we, I'm always right.
How does toxic fear affect us?
00:11:24
Speaker
Not only is causes stress within you, but within society in general. And it's very toxic. Everyone has their own truths because truth is subjective. One of my truths is that my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world. Now you may think that your wife or partner is the most beautiful woman in the world. And that's fine because that is your truth.
00:11:50
Speaker
But facts are not subjective. Gravity is a fact. If you drop a spoon while you're sitting at the table, it's going to fall and no argument will change that. Here's another toxin that's really big right now. Toxic fear. Okay. Before you roll your eyes and say, Oh God, another pandemic denier. Let me tell you, I do not.
00:12:18
Speaker
denied that there was a viral pandemic right now, with COVID-19 and all its variants. There, I said it. On the other hand, a generalized fear of what might possibly happen, whether it's disease, economic collapse, the crumbling of the housing market, the stock market plunging into the depths, a terrorist attack, being left behind in the rapture, or whatever your pet fear may be, can be an agonizing,
00:12:49
Speaker
crippling and paralyzing toxin. Now, there are healthy fears. A healthy fear like, hey, not wearing my seatbelt could be dangerous, or not taking proper health precautions during a pandemic could endanger me and others, or if I leave firearms lying around loaded where toddlers can get to them, that's a really bad idea. Those are the kind of good, healthy fears that help us to remain safe and healthy.
00:13:19
Speaker
but fears about the things we cannot control, a comet smashing into the earth, or a careening car slamming into us as we drive down the road. Well, those kind of fears only use up energy and they can be devoted to better things. And the extra stress from such fears affects the body in a variety of ways. It makes your body produce stress hormones that induce premature aging, and they cause us to retain unhealthy body fat.
00:13:47
Speaker
And they make us more susceptible to heart disease and hypertension. And quite honestly, they make us not fun to be around. Nobody wants to be around someone who's always worried about something crazy going to happen to everybody. Fear can be a good thing. It's our bodies and nature's warning system that says, hey, trying to walk the railing on the eighth floor balcony is simply not a good idea.
00:14:14
Speaker
but unreasoning or uncontrolled fear can consume us. And it keeps us from accomplishing what we really long to do, from what we are meant to do. Such unhealthy fear darkens our lives and keeps us from reaching our highest possible personal good.
Transforming toxic self-talk
00:14:36
Speaker
Now, you know, there's been a lot of talk about self-talk, and some self-talk is good, but some of it can be very toxic.
00:14:45
Speaker
This is something a lot of people struggle with. And honestly, I am one of them. I was a chubby, unpopular kid in school. I had zero social skills, mostly because I lived in a very rural environment where I didn't interact with a lot of people outside of school, except in church. And it was a small Protestant evangelical Pentecostal church with a central message. It was not about God's love, but about escaping eternal damnation by becoming a Christian and not sinning
00:15:14
Speaker
without repenting in sackcloth and ashes. Growing up like that, never participating in any sports at school because I was chubby, self-isolating because it was easier, and retreating to the books that I loved made it easy for me to let that little critical voice inside me say things like, man, I am so fat, I will probably never have a girlfriend. And if I do, I won't know how to treat her. I'll probably end up working in some textile mill or something, making minimum wage.
00:15:45
Speaker
As I got older, it turned into, why can't I get along with people? How come I don't realize that I just can't be bluntly frank with people and expect to have any friends? Man, I am such a loser. You may experience other, different toxic internal voices. Maybe yours is, I'm just like my mother or my father. Or, I'll never be a success. Or,
00:16:11
Speaker
Why did I ever think I was cut out from management? What a laugh! All of us have to learn to shut down that hypercritical internal voice, that tape recorder that plays the same sort of harshly critical crap that pokes holes in our self-worth and confidence. Those old tapes have to be kicked to the curb and replaced with internal voices that tell us, hey, sometimes stuff is hard to do, but you just have to keep at it.
00:16:41
Speaker
Self-sabotage is the most effective kind of sabotage because we usually believe our own internal voice. But because of that, the same concept can be applied to positive, encouraging things coming from that same voice. Now here's another unhealthy and toxic mental process, trying to live in the future instead of today.
Living in the moment vs. future
00:17:10
Speaker
It's sort of like the one about fearing what may come, but it's the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of dreading what tomorrow may hold, a lot of people are so unsatisfied with today that they constantly are thinking about what happens after. After I graduate from college, I'll be so much happier. After I get married, I'll get my act together and start saving money. After we have the baby, our marriage is definitely going to get better.
00:17:41
Speaker
After my kids grow up, I'll follow my dreams and do what I always wanted to do, or even something so short ranges. Oh man, after this assignment is finished, I will have time to relax. There are so, so many aphorisms, old sayings about living for today, and many spiritual traditions also address it.
00:18:06
Speaker
Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Jesus said that. Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment. The Buddha said that. One of the biggest buzzwords around today, and for good reason, is mindfulness.
00:18:32
Speaker
Mindfulness essentially means focusing on what is happening now, being present in the moment now, instead of thinking about what happens later today, tomorrow, or next month. For those of us who are inhabiting physical bodies, and I believe that applies to most of the people listening to this podcast, the future does not yet exist. It has yet to take shape.
00:19:00
Speaker
But the way you live and think today will shape your future. We create our own reality both today and in the future.
Closing thoughts and engagement
00:19:12
Speaker
So don't poison yourself with these kind of toxins and mess up the beautiful future you could have.
00:19:32
Speaker
Thanks for being here and listening to the podcast today. I trust it has been interesting, informative, and thought provoking. If you did find it interesting, please be sure and return for another episode and tell your friends about it too. I'd love it if you did that. It really helps me out. You can share directly from most podcast platforms. It would be really great if you follow it or subscribe to the podcast too. Most podcast platforms have one option or the other.
00:20:03
Speaker
If you want to tell me that you like the show or that you hate it, that you agree with me or disagree with me or anything else really, I still want to hear from you. Leave a voice message if your particular podcast platform allows that, or send me a message through my website at www.spectrum-phillistic.com. And until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and keep an open mind. Namaste.
00:20:39
Speaker
Did your friend offer you a pick me up pill? If you take medication that didn't come from a pharmacy, it's important to test it for fentanyl. Fentanyl can be hiding anywhere. Pick up a test strip at your local pharmacy today and protect yourself from hidden fentanyl.