Life can leave us stressed out and depleted. And often we assume we simply need better stress management skills, or perhaps to be more intentional about taking time off to decompress. And, certainly, these are good things. But these things might be of little benefit when we’re not also watching the diet we feed to our souls.
To be sure, we don’t have to look far to find the many disappointments, heartaches, and tragedies of this life. In fact, these dark and negative elements seem to be the very currency of our news cycles. As such, if it bleeds, it leads is not just a motto for the media, but also the very water we swim in as well. We feed our souls on one story after another of corruption, hatred, and death. We claim we’re just being informed citizens, but we’ve not stopped to count the cost of constantly consuming such stories everyday.
A diet for the soul is simply being mindful of what we allow our soul to feast upon. We’re told to think about such things that are true and noble, pure, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise. This is not to put our head in the sand and ignore the hardships or evil around us. But it’s not to worry or become preoccupied by these things either.
We balance our diet by spending more time feasting on what is true, good, and beautiful, rather than on what’s not. Or, said another way, we cultivate a diet of light rather than gorging on perpetual darkness of this world.
Of course, this doesn’t eliminate all the stressors of life. But it puts our soul in a much better position to manage the stress that remains without losing heart.
In the end, your soul needs a healthy diet as much as your body. Feast on light and beauty more than darkness and despair.
