Whatever You Feed Grows
Rob Bell said these words in a podcast the other day. He was referencing the illustration of the two dogs: one black, one white, that exist together in a person. Whichever one you feed will grow and take over the space. The story is usually shared with the idea that the black dog represents evil or undesirable things you don’t want in your life, while the white dog is good or desirable things you want to fill your life with. When Rob Bell stated the phrase without the dog analogy, it became much broader.
Whatever you feed grows. If you feed your soul with hopeful things, it will grow more hopeful. If you feed your mind with beautiful stories, it will notice more beautiful moments. If you feed your mind with devastation, it will be devastated. Think about a sponge. When you dip a sponge into a liquid, that sponge soaks up that liquid. It might soak up water, milk, juice, or coffee. When you squeeze the sponge, the liquid inside comes out. If your sponge soaked up milk, it will not ooze out coffee when the pressure is applied. The sponge will only release what it has been filled with. We are sponges. What happens when we are squeezed? We must remember to fill ourselves with lovely and true things when life is quiet. Once the pressure of life comes, whatever is in us, will come out. At that point, it is too late to try and fill ourselves up with something different.
Whatever you feed grows. Whatever you fill your mind with will plant seeds and grow. If you think your neighbor hates you, you will attribute all their actions to that thought. They come home, you wave, they don’t wave back. You think they hate you. In reality, they were preoccupied and didn’t see you. If you fill your mind with lies about the world and the people in it, you will not have space for the truth when it comes along.
Whatever you feed grows. We have a choice. Just like we can choose McDonalds or the grocery store, we can choose what enters our bodies. We can choose what we feed ourselves. We can choose what parts of ourselves will grow. Will I listen to stories of beautiful people who work to love one another and make other’s lives better, or will I listen to stories of war and crime? One of these will fill me with hope and belief in humanity. One of them will fill me with despair. When I hear the powerful acts of a few visionaries, I am inspired to keep moving. I am inspired to keep believing I can make an impact on the world. When I listen to the catastrophes, I feel like nothing I do will make a difference.
Whatever you feed grows. We have a choice. What we think will become our truth. Will we make sure it is truth? Will we check the source and the evidence to be certain we have not bought a lie? It is unbearably painful each time a person believes a lie about me. They listen to the stories of those who are seeking self preservation. These people have made poor choices. Instead of owning them and accepting the consequences, they lie. They blame me in some way for their decisions. These people don’t check the facts. They don’t ask if this behavior matches my character. They believe the lies and treat me accordingly. I am always terribly hurt by this. I am always shocked. I am not this person they paint me to be, yet I am forced to defend myself. The lie has grown in them. At this point, even the presence of the truth will not penetrate. If you eat Big Macs everyday for a month, the salad on that one day will not make a difference. The Big Macs win, the lies win.
Whatever you feed grows. What do you want to grow in your life? What do you want to come out when you are squeezed? Work backwards. Take what you want to come out of your life, and start finding those things. Start filling yourself with the pieces that, when put together, create the picture of your life you wish to see. One piece at a time. That is how a great puzzle works. In the beginning, it is overwhelming. In the beginning, the pieces are just chunks of cardboard with random colors on them. As you choose a piece and seek to identify where it might fit, you “see it.” You start to see the pattern. You start to see how they are connected. You start to see details you hadn’t before. The puzzle gets a bit easier the longer you sit with it. What pieces do you need to start picking up and adding to your life? What pieces will help you build the existence you imagine?
Whatever you feed grows.
