“What you think about, you bring about…”

I’d seen this teaching (and variations of it) in self-help books for years. But I kind of just rushed over it and never really *got* it. It took one powerful incident — involving a very delicious dessert and a night spent in agony on the toilet (!) — for me to truly learn the lesson of how our thoughts and words can impact our lives and literally transform our experiences…

It’s a crazy story that changed how I view the world, and it all starts with a dessert called ‘The Chocolate Pot’ — a lush, creamy, multi-layered chocolate mousse pot, which was served at a restaurant that I used to live nearby. It was topped with solid chocolate balls and a dash of whipped cream, and it was so good, I like to say it was beyond restaurant quality… it was Chef’s Table worthy. It’s hands down one of the best desserts I’ve ever laid eyes (or spoon!) on.

The first time I tried it was with an ex-boyfriend. He was the one who ordered it, and when he said it to the waitress, I straight away said, “But we can’t eat that!”

He asked why not and I responded with my crystal clear logic: “Because we don’t eat gluten, dairy or sugar.” (I may as well have said a big “D’uh!” at the end of my sentence, because that was my attitude!)

Well, he didn’t care one bit and placed his order anyway… And when the luscious pot arrived at our table, and I sat there watching him enjoy spoonful after delicious, chocolatey spoonful, I started to feel VERY curious.  

So I decided to have one bite… just one… which turned into two… which turned into me finishing the rest of his pot!

The thing is though, eating wasn’t the only thing going on… my inner Mean Girl had also leapt into action. With every spoonful, she was going off:

You should NOT be eating that, Melissa.

You are going to feel so awful after this.

You are ruining your health and your gut lining with every mouthful.

I can’t believe you’re doing this!

You are SO going to pay the consequences for this decision…

She didn’t stop when I finished the pot, either. In fact, she kept up her tirade the entire way home, echoing in my head about how crap I was going to feel, how dumb I’d been, and making me feel All The Guilt…

So you can probably guess what happened next…

That whole night I was on the loo with a verrrrrry sore tummy. Not fun.

And my Mean Girl loudly sang a victory song the entire time: See? I told you so! Maybe next time you won’t be so stupid…

(Gosh, don’t we say the most awful things to ourselves?)

That’s Part One of this story. It doesn’t end there though — fast forward a few months, and we found ourselves back at that same restaurant…

This time, my ex said, “Let’s try an experiment”. He told me the rules: “We each order a Chocolate Pot, but there’s a catch: WITHOUT going into your head, you are going to be totally present and enjoy every single bite… ok?”

Hesitantly, I agreed and the thought-experiment began…

When our pots were placed in front of us, we went above and beyond to truly enjoy them — we inhaled the chocolate aroma like they do on the cooking shows, we discussed the colours and textures as though we were Michelin-starred chefs, and we gave thanks for the dessert in front of us and for being able to afford it…

We probably definitely looked crazy to everyone around us. (I mean, we were making the most outrageous orgasmic sounds — you could hear us from five tables down!)

But we did what we said we were going to do: we enjoyed every single mouthful and really indulged in the ‘Chocolate Pot Experience’. Then the whole way home, we laughed at our antics and wondered how one dessert could be so damn delicious…

And I’m pleased to say, I stuck to the rules of the experiment. I didn’t *once* get stuck in my head or let my Mean Girl tell me I was doing something wrong. In fact, I kept on telling myself how grateful I was to have had such an experience and to have felt pure joy throughout our meal. I also congratulated myself for making the decision to practice pleasure and indulge my senses…

So what do you think happened that night?

Well, lo and behold, I was totally fine — no tummy pain, no upset stomach, no going through half a roll of toilet paper… even though it was the very same Chocolate Pot.

Our words and thoughts are SO powerful. What we tell ourselves matters and will manifest…

The lesson here?

If you tell yourself (whether out loud or in your mind) that a mouthful of chocolate is going to make you sick, it most likely will.

If you tell yourself that you are sooooo tired, you’ll be tired.

If you tell yourself you can’t afford it, you won’t be able to afford it.

If you tell yourself you are going to get sick, you’ll get sick.

If you tell yourself you’ll never heal, you won’t ever heal.

If you tell yourself your kids will have a tantrum, they will have a tantrum.

If you tell yourself you’ll never get out of debt, you most likely won’t get out of debt.

If you tell yourself your business will fail, it probably will fail.

And if you tell yourself he’ll never call… he sure as eggs ain’t gonna call.

Your words and thoughts are THAT powerful. My Chocolate Pot experience proves it. And it’s a powerful reminder to master your inner Mean Girl and to think and say only high vibe things from now on.

So beautiful, now I’d love to hear from you… what low energy thought/s are you currently telling yourself, that you’d like to replace with a more positive statement? Share it with us in the comments below. And remember, your words could be the ONE thing that inspire someone to make a powerful shift in their life. So open up that big beautiful heart of yours and share away! (I can’t wait to hear your insights.)