Minding the Mind
One of the ways that we get to know ourselves is through that uniquely human capacity called mind. Successful self-care requires that we pay attention to and keep our mind healthy and active. Just as the body requires exercise and regular feeding, our mind needs to be stretched and nurtured.
What sort of topics occupy your mind? Day-to-day concerns? Internal gossip? Worry about the future? Fretting over the past? Day dreams that drift by like passing clouds? Left unattended, these things will lull us into sleep-walking our way through life. They will distract our curiosity about life and shield our mind to the wonder and mystery of each day. We will become lost in the trees and never see the beauty of the forest.
However, when we discipline ourselves to read or listen to music or watch movies, our mind engages with others outside of itself. We learn new ideas that may challenge or confirm what we believe. We meet new people and discover interesting discussion partners in the characters of the stories. It can be fiction of non-fiction, popular or classical music, documentaries or motion pictures. But, the more diverse our diet the more our mind will be fed. Such exercise will help us to stay awake and find more joy in our daily journey.
Take care of your mind. Let out so that it run in the fresh air of new ideas and experiences from time to time. Feed it regularly with experiences that invoke awe and promote curiosity. When you think you have things figured out, think again!
What sort of topics occupy your mind? Day-to-day concerns? Internal gossip? Worry about the future? Fretting over the past? Day dreams that drift by like passing clouds? Left unattended, these things will lull us into sleep-walking our way through life. They will distract our curiosity about life and shield our mind to the wonder and mystery of each day. We will become lost in the trees and never see the beauty of the forest.
However, when we discipline ourselves to read or listen to music or watch movies, our mind engages with others outside of itself. We learn new ideas that may challenge or confirm what we believe. We meet new people and discover interesting discussion partners in the characters of the stories. It can be fiction of non-fiction, popular or classical music, documentaries or motion pictures. But, the more diverse our diet the more our mind will be fed. Such exercise will help us to stay awake and find more joy in our daily journey.
Take care of your mind. Let out so that it run in the fresh air of new ideas and experiences from time to time. Feed it regularly with experiences that invoke awe and promote curiosity. When you think you have things figured out, think again!
“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” (UNCF Slogan)
“Befriending the Inner Voice”
This week’s tip has to do with the inner voice that runs through your mind. This voice may be one among many, or it could be the only voice you hear. It offers comment on situations. It may propose options when choices must be made. If it is one among several voices in your head, you can identify it as the most common and the one that sounds more like you. Its vocabulary will be your usual words. Its ideas will seldom surprise you. It can be highly critical and extremely supporting. Mostly, it sounds like you.
When you hear this voice, spend time with it. Like a beloved friend, get to know it’s moods and personality. Be gentle with it. Give it the benefit of the doubt but feel free to stand firm when you feel it is leading you astray. Acknowledge it as an important part of your life and learn to see your inner life through it’s stories and interactions with your world.
From time to time each day, step outside of yourself and listen to the voice with the ears of someone watching a movie. Does the voice stay “in character” or is there something odd about it’s tone or content? Does the voice seem to belong in the story or is it merely an narrator standing apart and aloof from the moment to moment action?
As you come to know and befriend your inner voice it will shed new light on who your are and your deepest hopes and dreams. It will reacquaint you with yourself when you seem to have drifted far from your mooring. It can lead you home when you feel stressed and broken on the rocky shores of day to day life.
Befriend your inner voice so that it can help you find the resilience you need when life gets “complicated.” That voice can be your biggest ally and your best friend.
When you hear this voice, spend time with it. Like a beloved friend, get to know it’s moods and personality. Be gentle with it. Give it the benefit of the doubt but feel free to stand firm when you feel it is leading you astray. Acknowledge it as an important part of your life and learn to see your inner life through it’s stories and interactions with your world.
From time to time each day, step outside of yourself and listen to the voice with the ears of someone watching a movie. Does the voice stay “in character” or is there something odd about it’s tone or content? Does the voice seem to belong in the story or is it merely an narrator standing apart and aloof from the moment to moment action?
As you come to know and befriend your inner voice it will shed new light on who your are and your deepest hopes and dreams. It will reacquaint you with yourself when you seem to have drifted far from your mooring. It can lead you home when you feel stressed and broken on the rocky shores of day to day life.
Befriend your inner voice so that it can help you find the resilience you need when life gets “complicated.” That voice can be your biggest ally and your best friend.
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