Mantras

I have been trying to use mantras to assist me with my personal goals. I use a few mantras but right now I am focusing on one in particular:

I easily resist the temptation to eat empty foods.

What I mean by "empty foods" is any food that doesn't do me any good; that is not nutritious. This pretty much excludes all sugary foods, which happen to be my downfall.

I also read recently that you should try to live your life as if your guru or mentor or the special person in your life (whoever that may be to you) were watching you. As you open the fridge and reach for that chocolate bar and break off a piece, imagine that person watching you and perhaps it will have you returning the chocolate bar to the fridge and closing it tight.

A few months ago, I went to the fridge and picked up a chocolate bar. It was very cold and hard and as I broke into it, I broke a nail and that was a double dose of guilt for me. I made my way soon thereafter to the nail salon and it happened to be the Filipino man that day that beckoned me to sit down.

"Oh, what has happened here? How did this happen?"

Please don't ever count on me to lie for you because I suck at that.

"Well, I was breaking off a piece of chocolate, actually."

He didn't say anything but his silence and the look of disapproval on his face said it all. I had been bad.

The mantra is going quite well. It has saved me from a sugary fate any number of times in the past week or so. But, honestly, I can't think of anything better than the dominant saying,

"No sugar without express permission."

That's something I really could completely respect (even though it may be best for him to follow up regularly...)