Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily. With Hashem’s help, I thought of a beautiful concept in positive psychology, based on the signs of the kosher animals. Parashat Shemini tells us that a kosher animal has two signs- it has split hooves, and it has to chew its cud.
As these are signs of a kosher animal, it means they're good things. What is the quality of chewing one's cud? The Gaon of Vilna explains that chewing one's cud means that being happy with what you have. That cow had some grass. He chews it and chews it and chews it, and then it goes into one stomach, and then it comes out again. And then he chews again. There are four different stomachs, and the cow goes through all different stages, all with the same grass! The symbolism, says the Gaon of Vilna, is that you can have a house and you could be happy with the house. It's the same house and you just, sort of say, rechew it and enjoy it. On the other hand, you could say, I'm tired of it. I need another one. The trait of chewing one's cud is the trait of appreciation and being happy with what you have.
I want to take this to the next level. There are two definitions of the word ruminate in the dictionary. Number one is to think deeply about something again and again. We sat ruminating on that idea….
Number two is that a ruminant chews cud. The goats, ruminated nonchalantly, et cetera.
But they really mean the same thing. You could be chewing on your thoughts, so to say, going over them again and again. Or, in the case of animals, cows chew their cud.
What's interesting is that in psychology, ruminating is a bad term. There are many articles about this. One, from Psychology Today, dated April 6th, 2024 is entitled, How to Break the Cycle of Rumination by Amy Vigliotti, PhD. She writes,“Ruminаtion is like а treаԁmill for the minԁ. For many, it feels like an enԁless loop of reрetitive thoughts аnԁ worries. Getting out of the loop can be much more difficult than pulling the red cord on the stop button. Yet, with the right strategies and support, it is рossible to unhook and detach from our thinking.”
Ruminating, in psychology is, I just get stuck in this negative thought, and I keep on replaying it again and again and again, whatever it may be. It causes anxiety and all kinds of bad things, so we look for ways to stop rumination.
But in positive psychology, I'll call it, or Torah psychology, we are learning that rumination is really a good thing. That's what the cow does when it chews its cud, and that's what we're supposed to be doing when we’re happy with our lot. So, I'd like to coin the term positive rumination. What does that mean?
Take something good that you have and keep thinking about it- Like the baby you had many years ago. Maybe 60 years ago, if you are 80 years old, or 40 years ago, or 30 years ago, or 10 years ago, or whatever it may be.
Or your house. You bought your house 5, 10 or 20 years ago. Been there, done that. Who's happy in a house that’s 20 years old? They're thinking about redoing it, or at least redecorating it. But no, chew on it. Chew on your eyes and chew on your ears, and chew on your nose and chew on everything that you have. Just keep chewing on it. Instead of negatively ruminating, go out there and start having positive ruminations.
Try that for a few minutes a day. Sit down and say, I'm going to dedicate these five minutes to positive rumination. I'm going to take one good thing and keep thinking about it again and again. My wife, what a wonderful lady. I have her for close to 40 years… Keep thinking about the great advantages for five minutes, again and again and again. Let me catch myself, when I'm walking down the stairs. Once again, it just creeps into my mind how wonderful my wife is. That's positive rumination, and that's a great trait. Sur M’Ra V’Aseh Tov. Instead of ruminating on the bad, which comes naturally, because that’s just the way human beings are made, let’s make the effort to evoke and ignite Positive Rumination. What a beautiful concept. Let's try it. Have a wonderful day.