AlexSandra Lett "Lett's Set a Spell"

Lett’s Set a Spell
LENT: Lett’s Eliminate Negative Thinking

In Christian religions there’s a special Holy Day several weeks prior to Easter. It is called Lent, and through the centuries this event has become associated with prayer, fasting, and cleansing body, mind, and soul. In the past I have given up several things for Lent, including boyfriends, but this year I decided to release my addiction to sugar. During several recent birthday celebrations, all including delicious desserts, and Valentine’s Day remembrances, featuring lots of chocolate candy, I went with the flow but resolved to give up sugar for Lent.

On Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), anticipating the arrival of Ash Wednesday, March 1, the first day of Lent, I had run out of excuses for eating sweets. I cleaned out my refrigerator and kitchen cabinets and threw away the junk foods.

After focusing on printing seven books in six years and dealing with the sickness and death of both parents I awoke the day after Christmas with a feeling of exhilaration. I had no deadline ... no line that made me dead to life’s flow. Since then I have allowed my soul to catch up with my body and given myself permission to really take care of myself. I have kept my New Year’s resolution to walk often, do yoga exercises, and eat more nutritious foods.

From 1982 to 1987 I wrote a column called “Natural Living” for my hometown newspaper, The Sanford Herald. Each week I discussed different aspects of wellness: sleep, exercise, fresh air, sunshine, nutritious foods, pure water, herbs, natural remedies, positive attitude, etc. The column’s popularity led to the publication of my first book, Natural Living: From Stress to Rest. I became an expert on getting rid of stress and spoke to audiences for many years about this topic. However, I did not always practice what I preached.

In 2000 I started writing this “Lett’s Set a Spell” column, publishing and promoting books, and speaking to audiences about nostalgia and experienced many 12-hour working days. Well, flesh is dumb, and I resorted to drinking sweet tea and soft drinks to keep me going. Injuries from a car accident and concerns about elderly parents added complications. Stress escalated, and despite my knowledge of nutrition and healing, I succumbed to living in a state of dis-ease and disease. I ate junk foods, accumulated toxins, gained weight, and ignored my soul’s promptings. Instead of being a shining example of health and happiness, I became a bundle of nerves. My house was a mess, my body was a wreck, and my mind was a whirlwind.

Since the New Year I am changing my lifestyle permanently and shifting my focus to transformation. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon with my wings still being formed, I am evolving from stress to rest and claiming BEST. As a child of God I owe it to my Maker and to myself to heal body, mind, and spirit, and I will help others on this very important journey to wellness.

For me my recognition of Lent is larger than overcoming my addiction to candy, cake, pie, cookies, sweet tea, and soft drinks, but about giving up self-defeating patterns that are robbing my life of energy and enthusiasm. After all, what is stressed spelled backwards? Desserts, of course, and sugar creates stress!

With a renewed determination in 2006 to become my Best Self, I am proclaiming Lent as an acronym for Lett’s Eliminate Negative Thinking. This so-called “stinkin’ thinkin’” can cause physical symptoms, mental disturbances, emotional traumas, and spiritual fatigue.

A person’s mind is like a garden. Sowing seeds and nurturing them promote bountiful plants ... positive thoughts lead to wonderful results. Just as we get rid of weeds and protect vegetation against blight we must constantly clear out destructive cobwebs that drain our energy and eventually destroy our lives. As children of God with the ability to execute free will, we can focus on beautiful blossoms in our garden rather than irritating bugs, weeds, and thorns.

Recently I visited an elderly friend who has been sick a lot but is feeling better now. She focused on telling me about various illnesses she has experienced through the years and all the drugs she is taking. As she frowned constantly and dramatized her problems, she did not ask how I was doing or want to hear my news. This woman even had the nerve to complain about people not visiting her. Wonder why no one wants to attend her Pity Party? Leaving her house, I felt dirty, so I came home and took a long, hot shower to wash away the lingering vibrations!

This unpleasant experience reminded me about how I must always focus on what’s right in my life rather than what seems wrong at the time. I vow to see the glass as half full, not half empty.

As for Lent, I’m honoring this holy season as a reason for implementing a life-changing idea: Lett’s Eliminate Negative Thinking. I am looking forward to keeping my mind positive, my body healthy, and my spirit joyful.