noun
1. Sociology. the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period:
In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued.
2. the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.
3. the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion.
(dictionary.com)
Thesaurus.com has a great list for synonyms of the word mindset.
- noun psychology
- attitude
- ethos
- mentality
- psyche
- behaviorism
- medicine
- mind
- therapy mental
- make-up
- mental processes
- personality study psych
- science of the mind
- way of thinking
- what makes someone tick
- where head is at
I firmly believe that overweight and obesity are products of our personal ethos, our mindset, or our way of thinking. Alcoholics Anonymous uses the phrase, "stinking thinking" (leads to drinking) to encapsulate the concept of negative thinking. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an intervention that centers on managing thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Thoughts lead to emotions which lead to behaviors. So our personal ethos is truly important and the impetus that drives us.
So what negative thoughts do we have to discover that we have that lead us to overweight and obesity? How do we rank ourselves when it comes to:
self-respect
self-esteem
self-worth
It's a tough pill to swallow to embrace that maybe these three "selves" aren't as high as they could be, and maybe our lack of the "selves" leads us to eating poorly, lack of exercise, and overweight and obesity.
As an undergrad student, I took a nutrition class as my science elective. In that class, I learned you can be healthy when you're overweight. Does that body mass index (BMI) ratio classification of height to weight really mean anything? I personally use it as a marker. I don't like labels as a rule, but in this case the label of the BMI chart hits me hard. I'm in Class II obesity right now. I'm morbidly obese. Labels are ugly, and they can stigmatize, but if we choose to use them positively, they can be strong motivators.
Classifications can be motivators, but so can mirrors. When we look into the mirror do we see disgust, shame, due to fat or imperfections? Or can we look in that mirror and smile and like who we see, but acknowledge that maybe we need to drop a few pounds. Or 100. Can we still see the value and worth we each have, even if we have excess adipose? I certainly hope so.
It all comes back to our personal ethos. What makes us tick? After careful consideration, I have decided to work on my personal ethos, because I believe it is the heart of my obesity.
I have printed out a card and put it in my planner to read each day. It's just a list, but I want this list committed to memory so that I know it, breathe it, and live it.
1. I have value right now in the moment just as I am.
2. I am worthy.
3. I am good enough.
4. I respect myself enough to make healthful choices.
5. I am confident in who I am; am willing to be open minded and change parts I don't like, and celebrate the parts I do like.
6. I love myself.
Oh, how awkward it is to say, "I love myself." If it's hard, find a photo of yourself when you were a small child, step out of your shoes and look at that child as a separate person. Would we dare demean and criticize a small, defenseless child? No! We would build the child up, show the child kindness, smile, appreciate, and love. That's what self-love is, building ourselves up, showing ourselves kindness, smiling, appreciating, and loving.
Personal ethos. It starts on how we treat ourselves. And we want to treat ourselves as well as we would a stranger on the street or someone we were trying to impress. The more we love ourselves, the more equipped we are to love others.
