This could possibly be one of the hardest chapters for me to write. To the reader who knows me closely, this is probably a surprise because one would think since I’ve built a lifestyle on this concept it would be very easy for me to discuss this concept.
However, as I continue to grow and learn more from people unlike myself I find myself incredibly torn. On the one hand, it seems pretty simple. Garbage in gets you garbage results. If we’re talking about strictly the foods you consume then there’s a good chance your daily performance reflects that garbage.
We’ve all been there to some degree. Maybe not to the level of the 600-pound man, but we’ve all consumed something in some environment and felt like absolute shit. That’s because our bodies, while remarkable, have to constantly adapt to the changing environment we as free-willed individuals, put them in.
Get fucked up at the bar or a party and tomorrow is hell to pay. Your body has to work overtime to course-correct the damage. However, what we take for granted as mortals is the mere fact that you can take a day (sometimes less) and bounce back. Sometimes people even repeat this damage in back to back fashion. Thank god for pain because the body would know no limits to this damage if there was not some type of signal to say “hey you dumb fuck, you’re poisioning me in here.”
If the conversation stopped at food some people would have a fighting chance. Unfortunately, it does not. It would be wrong to talk about Garbage in – Garbage out without mentioning the fact that a big part of this includes one’s environment.
The toxicity of your environment also contributes to the outpouring of garbage that feeds a perpetual cycle. If you are constantly around negative people it’s incredibly hard to defend against that mindset. If you surround yourself with bad apples it becomes increasingly harder to know the difference. As our awareness narrows so too does our positive contributions to society. Even if we have the best intentions, sometimes what we’re consuming from those around us, the media, our peer groups is in fact straight garbage.
It will become increasingly important to constantly analyze your own environments and put yourself on trial. Ask yourself if you’re consuming garbage, if you’ve surrounded yourself with garbage, and if you’re unaware that the rabbit holes you get sucked into online make you a worse person. The only way to do this successfully is to understand what garbage is first and then upgrade your life, make sweeping changes, and have the courage to cut those things and people out from your environment altogether.
Where I find myself torn is in the ease of the execution of a lot of the above items and not giving people a fair chance to get their own shit together. I’ll be the first to admit I’m quick to judge and I think that a lot of those judgements might prove accurate to some degree but I think when it comes to these things above, I’ve learned that most people need a deeper look inside. There is a large chance that they are not choosing this garbage completely consciously.
However, as individuals, we all have free will to decide what we want to take in. One could argue about the young individual with a shitty living circumstance and a sea of toxicity surrounding them but to them, I would argue he/she still has a choice. Despite the challenges of everyday life we are not alone and control whatever we’d like to between our ears. It can act as the ultimate purification system if you fine-tune it.
So now it’s time to decide.
Do you have the courage to stand alone?