This evening, one of the women who came for Love and Inspiration, brought a bag of Fiesta Mix she had picked up at the store. Fiesta Mix, for those who have never had it, is a combination of pretzels, Cheetos, and two kinds of tortilla chips. I guess you could say it is a junk food party in your mouth. When she first brought the bag, it seemed like your ordinary bag of mixed snacks.
As our discussion about things happening in our life progressed, I realize that even something as simple as this mixed bowl of snacks had a powerful lesson to share. One of the things I realized is that each of us was gravitating towards various components. Some of us were drawn to the tortilla chips, others the Cheetos, and others the pretzels. Even when we put a mixture on our plate there was an order in which we ingested things.
One of the things we came to realize is that none of us had to eat all the components in this mix. It is like receiving advice or suggestions from others. We must be mindful of which of those pieces of advice we ingest into our belief system and internalize. If it is not something we want so “ingest,” then we can leave it on the plate. We could just eat the Cheetos and leave the pretzels and tortilla chips in the bowl.
Even if we were drawn to the “tortilla chip” advice in general, we do not need to ingest all the “tortilla chip” advice. We have to be intentional about what we agree to in our lives and what we do not. Our ability to discern what we accept and make part of our belief system is in part dependent on our understanding and valuing our own worth and opinions.
Others in our life may have tried to convince us we need to eat the whole mix, however, we have the power to make conscious choices about what we internalize and keep in our lives. So just for today, remember you have the power to open the bag and eat part, all, or none of the “snacks.” You can also choose not to open the bag. You have the power to decide what, if anything is in your fiesta mix.