Recently, I watched a Ted Talk and the speaker spoke about how he got addicted to a variety of different substances in his lifetime and how they affected him. He mentioned how his environment, the people around him, and what he consumed mentally played huge factors in who he was and how he acted as well. This got me thinking about what I’m addicted to and how it is affecting me in my life. It was a reality check, to say the least, and a reminder that you are what you eat. Many of us heard this when our parents noticed us eating too much or jokingly when we started to physically look like the food we were consuming. For example, before I started to be conscious of my time and presence on social media, before giving it up altogether, I was constantly riddled with anxiety from the expectation to be accepted on social media, wasting a lot of time just scrolling up and down, and most importantly, always comparing myself to the next person. It was a living nightmare. I felt addicted, in a sense, to social media. My mindset and choices were dictated by social media and what others were doing – never what I wanted to do. I was on social media so much that I wanted to be like others and sometimes, even ended up doing things that weren’t the best for myself or my future. It led me down a path of wasted efforts, depression, and a longing to please an invisible person behind a screen. It reminded me of Proverbs 13:20 (KJV), “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” It reminded me how easy it is to become the people you hang around, to pick up their habits and even their thinking.
It made me truly look at my life in many facets like the people I was hanging around, the music I was listening to, and even the shows I was watching. Something that we perceive as being small so little can have such a great effect on us that we don’t even realize it until it’s pointed out or it’s too late.
I feel like that’s why God tells us in Proverbs 4:23 (NIV), “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” I noticed If I was listening to negative music, hanging around negative people and environments, I became just that. But as soon as I started associating with more positive things and people, that’s when my actions and outlook on life became better, especially my mindset “because your reality becomes what you think about”. Philippians 4:8 (ESV) clearly states:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
When you focus on the good, the good gets better. I can never tell someone how to live, because who am I to do that? But I hope if anything, you leave here being conscious of the people and things you’re associating with. Be alert of how they’re affecting you negatively and positively. Godspeed.
