"Mum,what are we having for lunch?" My daughter asked.
"Jollof Rice with beef" I replied with a smile because I knew what was coming.
"Yay" She cried joyfully. "I love your Jollof Rice mummy"
I am not blowing my own trumpet but based on my beloved family's rating, my Jollof Rice is top-notch.
I love to cook. I enjoy putting ingredients together to make a beautiful dish. I cook a lot of African dishes and I make it very hot and spicy because that's the way I like it and my immediate family loves it that way also, in fact most Africans like hot and spicy food. Most African spices are very beneficial to the human body. I always get a feeling of fulfillment each time I get a compliment for my cooking. Naturally we all feel some warmth when complimented for one thing or the other?
I put a lot of spices in my food not just because it is healthy but putting the right quantity gives just the right touch to make it enjoyable for me and my beautiful family. Salt makes food tasty but just as good as salt is, too much of it can turn that savory dish into one of utter contempt. It takes a lot of patience and mastery to put the right quantities of ingredients together to make that delicious food. Apart from the fact that food nourishes the body, it is also a necessity for survival. Good food is pleasing to the eye, the tongue and the body as a whole.
Not everyone enjoys cooking but I believe everyone enjoys and appreciates good food. A lot of people would go out of their way to find the best restaurants in town in order to nourish their bodies with the best of the best in cooking.
Nobody would go back a second time to a restaurant that serves totally bad or tasteless food. No one has an appetite for bad food. It is only expected that we refuse to eat food that looks unappealing and spit out any food that tastes bad.
I love good food and so does a a lot of us. It takes a good recipe to bring about a tantalizing dish. Just the way eating good food brings about a healthy body system, It takes good thoughts to bring about a positive attitude. Do not feed your mind with negativity because it can only bring about pessimism that would eventually lead to depression.
Just as we can control what goes into our mouth, we can also control what goes into our minds. Too much negativity can turn our minds into a turmoil of depression.
Just as we feed ourselves good food in order to get the energy to support ourselves, our minds can be fed with thoughts that would impact our lives positively. Read inspirational books, listen to inspirational music. Surround yourself with optimistic people and if you find yourself in the midst of negativity, be selective and avoid being drowned in the negativity. If you are going through some difficulties, make it an opportunity to create victory and success. Make opportunities out of every situation.
What are you feeding your mind? What do you think about most times? What are your dreams? What kind of exaltation do you feed your soul. Feeding your mind with a lot of negativity is like eating bad or unhealthy food which is detrimental to the body which would eventually be damaging to the mind and soul.
Brighten your mind with beautiful, positive and delightful thoughts. Let your heart be filed with love and your soul will be at peace.
Our lives can be made wholesome if we use the recipe that includes a lot of love and happiness.
For me the ultimate recipe to to a healthy body, mind and soul lies in the power of a positive attitude, a positive disposition and lots of positive thinking all fueled by healthy eating habits and our own determination to live a happy and optimistic life.
Generally we can't do much when we are hungry. According to the popular saying, a hungry man is an angry man. Being hungry can be frustrating. This can be likened to an idle mind. An idle mind is the devil's workshop. If you don't get creative with your mind and think of beautiful things, then bad thoughts begin to creep in. Be creative, think good thoughts.
Just as you take care of your body by eating good food, take care of mind and only you can do it because only you can feed yourself good thoughts that would help put you in the right frame of mind to make for a beautiful and stressless life.