avatarAlberto García 🚀🚀🚀

Summary

The article conveys the transformative impact of a grandfather's advice on his grandchild's life, encapsulated in a single, powerful sentence about not feeding one's inner demons.

Abstract

The author shares a personal story of how their 92-year-old grandfather's wisdom led to profound changes in their life. In a brief conversation, the grandfather imparts a life-altering insight: "The only reason your life is hell is because you keep feeding your demons." This realization prompts the author to confront their inner demons, which are depicted as insatiable and capable of turning positive experiences into negative ones. The author introduces a mental "spam filter" method to resist these destructive impulses, involving an internal alarm to reject self-deceptive justifications. By adopting this approach, the author suggests that individuals can starve their self-destructive tendencies, leading to a more peaceful existence, as it did for them.

Opinions

  • The author believes that introspection and meditation on one's grandfather's advice can lead to significant personal growth.
  • The article suggests that people often justify their negative behaviors and that recognizing and rejecting these justifications is crucial for self-improvement.
  • It is implied that everyone has an "inner demon" that can negatively influence their life, and it is one's responsibility to manage this aspect of themselves.
  • The author emphasizes the importance of not deceiving oneself, as this self-deception fuels the inner demons and perpetuates a cycle of self-destruction.
  • The "mental spam filter" method is presented as an effective tool for maintaining mental discipline and resisting the temptations that feed one's inner demons.
  • The author encourages readers to follow their example and that of their grandfather, implying that such wisdom is universally applicable and beneficial.

“If You Have 15 Minutes, I Promise You Miracles in Your Life.” My 92-year-old Grandfather Told Me Once

And it worked.

Photo by nrd on Unsplash

My grandfather tried to straighten me out when my life went wrong.

He failed until he told me “if you have fifteen minutes to talk to your old grandfather and listen to him, I will tell you something that will work miracles in your life.”

It took less than 15 minutes. He did it in one sentence.

A sentence so brutally honest that it jolted me awake.

A sentence that was like a cold water pitcher.

A sentence that was like a slap in the face of my pride.

A sentence that changed everything.

My grandfather’s haunting sentence

“The only reason your life is hell is because you keep feeding your demons.” — My grandfather.

Like all great truths, the power of this quote goes unnoticed if you don’t meditate on it.

I did for years, which changed how I saw the world.

I realized that sometimes you feel that reality is like a hungry demon staring at you.

But it’s not true.

The hungry demon dwells inside of you

And wants to possess everything in its claws.

Your inner demon is foody and capricious.

A gourmet demon who likes variety doesn’t want to settle for what he’s already tasted.

A demon that knows it can only devour what goes into you.

And it devours everything.

Your inner demon can twist everything good that happens to you and turn it bad: relationships, friendships, jobs, and the trust of others.

Your inner demon is always looking for thoughts in your head to justify its actions.

Drinking. Smoking. You are being unfaithful. You name it.

That’s why you have to keep an eye on your inner demon, and for that, you have to weaken it by putting it on a diet.

The mental spam filter method

It is the method that rejects all the spam that reality throws you in the inbox of your mind.

In the beginning, it is challenging to implement this method.

But it is easy when you master it.

Every time you see that your mind is trying to justify your demon’s desires, use the Yeah, Sure alarm (and roll up your eyes).

Examples,

  • Your hungry demon: “We could go out for a while, we’ll be back soon”.
  • Response: Yeah, Sure (and roll up your eyes)
  • Your hungry demon: “Treat yourself for the weekend. Monday, we start the diet.”
  • Answer: Yeah, Sure (and roll up your eyes)
  • Your hungry demon: “Smoke a cigarette on the sly; no one will know.”
  • Answer: Yeah, Sure (and roll up your eyes)

Takeaway

The point here is that we all know when we are self-deception to feed that self-destructive part of us that makes us live in hell.

Starve that part of you, and you will put out the fire.

And to do that, you have to start by stopping self-deception.

Don’t feed your demons, and you won’t live in hell.

Listen to my grandfather: I did it, and it worked.

A virtual hug

AG

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Life Lessons
Life
Self Improvement
Spirituality
Mindfulness
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