I wanted to share this helpful metaphor from Josh Hillis, emotional eating coach and author of "Lean and Strong: Eating Skills, Psychology, and Workouts,"
In this metaphor, the monsters represent undesirable thoughts, feelings, or cravings.
Imagine you are a bus driver. Your job is to drive the bus safely. Many friendly and supportive people use the bus, and so do the monsters. Over time, you become familiar with the monsters. However, you don't know exactly when they will get on the bus or how long they will ride.
You could try to refuse the monsters bus access, but then they would just go out and find loads of their monster friends and return to storm onto the bus anyway, waving their tickets in your face. And they would be in no mood to sit quietly.
It's better to let them ride, even if they're a bit obnoxious. Just make it clear they can't set fire to the seats. You can keep doing your job, even if you are uncomfortable knowing the monsters will eventually get off the bus.
Have any of these monsters ever boarded your bus?
the monster that brings your trigger foods onto the bus
the monster that says you will fail
the monster that says you can start over on Monday
the monster that encourages you to have another glass of wine
the monster that says it's OK to stay up and watch another episode
the monster that says you must be perfect or why bother
the monster that says you might has well give up
Denying access to the bus is suppressing these kinds of thoughts, feelings, or cravings.
Letting them ride means acknowledging the uncomfortable thought, feeling, or craving without letting it take over. You keep moving towards your goals based on your values and let the chatter or craving pass.
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