If you’ve never heard the expression “You are what you eat,” you have led a sheltered life.

Here’s an expression you’ve probably never heard, “You are what’s eating you.”

I had never heard it either until The Grasshopper hopped up on my computer keyboard and banged it out.

Have you ever noticed that your attention is drawn like a moth to a searchlight to something that’s bothering you?

There are a whole host of things going on in your life but the one thing getting the lion’s share of your attention is that which is gnawing at you.

Oftentimes we treat that thing like a rattle in the car. We believe that if we ignore it, it will go away. It won’t.

Something that’s eating you won’t stop until there is nothing left to chew on. You get eaten alive by that which you ignore.

I am a bit amused by the circus surrounding the Tiger Woods saga. Tiger is not playing golf well and each one of the golf analysts has a take on what he’s technically doing wrong. No one has stated the obvious, “Tiger is being consumed by what’s eating him.” He now has neck pain that has surfaced over the last month or so and has gotten to the point that he had to withdraw from competition last week. The sports physiologists and orthopedists of all stripes were getting their moment in the spotlight detailing the injury and potential remedies.

I have no doubt he is physically hurting, but this is a guy who played on a broken leg and won the U.S. Open. It’s not the physical pain that’s been plaguing his game. The lyrics to a 60s song come to mind. “When something’s wrong with my baby, there’s something wrong with me.”

“You are what’s eating you” is another way of saying, “You are what has your attention.”

That thing that’s troubling you can’t be pushed into a corner and ignored because it will come out swinging. It needs to be addressed.

There are many schools of thought on how to address issues, but my experience has taught me that the most effective way is head on. It’s the fastest way to a solution. All the finessing, dancing and nibbling around the cookie just adds days, months and years of avoidable pain.

The reality check is this: Until you address what’s eating you, that’s who you will remain. You are what’s eating you.

This is not an invitation to go throw up on someone and give them a piece of your mind. That’s a one-way strategy that rarely works. Yes, you may have something to address with someone and withholding it is not helpful to you or them. That is not the most effective first step.

The first step is to address your own behavior. No one is making you feel the way you do but you. Assailing another is just a convenient diversion to ignore your own behavior.

What can you do about what’s eating you? No one else can solve the problem for you, but I can point you in a direction – Address it.

The strategy of ignore and be blissful leads to a lifetime of pain, but you already know that.

It takes courage to address yourself, but once addressed, you are no longer on the menu.

All the best,

John

LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF
STOP SMOKING FOREVER
SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT EVERY NIGHT
IMPROVE YOUR SELF CONFIDENCE
I LOVE MY BODY
RELAX IN 2 MINUTES
FEEL FOREVER YOUNG
VIRTUAL MASSAGE