Day 3323 – A Painful Reminder Of The Importance Of Watching What You Consume

This week I’ve had a painful reminder of the importance of being very careful about your consumption habits. For our trip to MA, I purchased a 12 pack of a generic soda. I’ve had this soda before and I’ve had soda on road trips before. But for some reason on this trip, my stomach was NOT a fan. It took me a few days to definitely pinpoint the soda as the tummy upsetter because we ate SO much food from so many different places. In a lot of ways, I’m so thankful for this reminder. The practical takeaway is to not drink that much soda. I typically might have 1-2 sodas and/or energy drinks a week. On the trip, I had 1-2+ per day. I really need to remind myself to NOT take sodas on a road trip. I might test out iced tea on the next trip. I’d still get a bit of caffeine and it would be somewhere healthier.

As I was thinking through this, I realized that while this was an obviously physical reminder of how what you consume impacts you, it was also a reminder that what I see, read, and hear impacts me as well. If I spend my time around others who talk poorly about marriage, or watch movies where marriage is disrespected, or even making cheating ok, it has an impact on my marriage. I will treat my husband with less respect and potentially entertain thoughts of cheating. Knowing this, I am very vigilant about what I consume about marriage.

If I’m spending my days watching videos that are positive reminders to business owners, encouraging me to keep working, and showing me examples of others who HAVE done it before me, I am much more energized in my work.

So even though it hasn’t been a fun few days with an upset tummy, it’s been a great reminder of how one little thing can have a huge impact on my entire life.