Many French dinner party conversations revolve around your usual rum drum banalities: politics, pop culture, and the occasional “let’s talk about how messed up Americans are because it makes us feel better.” Though I join in from time to time, I prefer more riveting topics, such as philosophy, world-changing, and the importance of superfoods…. which I’m finding more and more prevalent among the more health-conscious microcosms of Paris. Dieu merci.

Recently, at one such a dinner party involving the deeper sort of conversation, an interesting and wise woman suddenly whipped out a metaphor for life that I find spot on. The idea is that everyone is born practically perfect (aside from exceptional cases of deviation, obviously), and everything that happens to us – our environment, what we eat, what we are taught, all of our experiences – go into a pot of sorts that we, metaphorically, carry with us through life. All these “ingredients” make up our “Soup of Life.”

Now, you can’t take out what’s already in your soup, as you can’t change the past, but you can add to it. So, say for example, some “basil” was added to your soup around age 4…. basil will therefore always be a component of your soup, but as you add more and more ingredients to your recipe as your life progresses, you may not taste the basil much anymore, though it’s a part of it. Naturally, the more cognizant you are of what you put in your soup, the tastier it will be, and the more you learn from the effect of previous ingredients, the more apt you are to add in more delicious things.

This metaphor pairs very well with the nutritional idea of “crowding out.” One thing that I’ve learned and loved through my study of holistic nutrition is the idea of adding in good foods that will “crowd out” the less good ones, instead of operating from a place of taking out or banning. We often feel overwhelmed and disheartened by the idea of removing… to many it represents rigidity and deprivation, which can really impede progress. Crowding in, however, comes from a positive place. Add in more and more delicious and feel-good foods like fruits and vegetables, and suddenly there’s less space for the not-so-goody ones.

I invite everyone to try out this mindset in their day-to-day lives. I find it empowering and powerful.

What are you going to add to your soup today?