The title of this post is a quote from Lord Byron. It speaks to the amazingly complex and beautiful thing most of us have the privilege of having (full use of) and yet so few of us know how to really use and that is our Mind.
I have been in complete awe since about 2013 with the
amazing power of our minds, in essence the higher faculties of our minds which
are; reason, memory, perception, will, intuition and imagination. However, I must admit that I have been
equally amazed at how challenging it can be to harness this power. I believe
harnessing this power leads to what’s referred to in the personal development/self-help
field as “transformation” and in doing so, be able to live joyful, purposeful
and fulfilling lives. Sounds great right? Yet, I have at times been very
discouraged at just how challenging harnessing this power can be for most us. Especially
for those of us that have never been taught anything about these higher
faculties of the mind and those of us who have lived in excess of 35/40 years and
thus, most of our beliefs about ourselves, others and the world have pretty
much been deeply entrenched not only on a subconscious level but I believe (as
do many others) on a cellular level as well.
Someone I know recently asked me this question “Do you believe that I can eventually change
the entire thought patterns that cause me so much anxiety if I continue to work
on that?” This person also mentioned they felt they had 40 years of anxiety
they were dealing with. My response: “Yes
and no. I think it’s probably possible but would take a lot of time and
practice, something most of us living average working lives don’t have the
discipline or luxury of doing. If we could spend just 2-3 hours a day on
meditation, concentration, learning to discipline our minds, developing and strengthening our higher faculties, we could probably
all change a lot and rather quickly. But I also think that there are some
underlying beliefs that are ingrained into our biology most probably from our infancy
and early childhood that get triggered so automatically (within milliseconds
probably) and unconsciously that sometimes it feels like all the years of
meditation or mind training are pointless.” I recently heard in a You Tube video I was
listening to, it could have been Dr. Gabor Mate or maybe it was Sadhguru,
“Imagine how well we would know ourselves (they were talking about the
importance of inner awareness) if we could spend 6 hours a day for 6 months in contemplation
and meditation…how excellent any person can become after 6 hours of daily practice at their chosen craft/skill” I know it is a challenge for most of us to fit even 20 minutes of meditation in the am and 20 minutes in the pm, into our busy day to day routines, yet alone 2-3 hours a day, with 6 hours being almost laughable. The sad truth is most of us can't even spend 5 minutes by ourselves before turning to our cell phones, t.v or some other distraction, even books or other people, which many people would not consider a distraction. "Changing your thoughts is easy, keeping them changed is the hard part” Jacob Glass
So you may be wondering, if it is so time consuming and so hard to change, why bother? I've wondered this same question several times myself since 2013 but moments of discouragement are rare for me these days as I have spent the last 6 years making financial and lifestyle choices (they mostly feel like sacrifices) in order to have the time to do the “inner work” that I now know is required for true transformation. I then also quickly remember how much better my life feels for me since I started taking the time to do my inner work. My outer circumstances have fluctuated some and at times feels like the outer circumstances have taken a path straight to hell but I am quickly reminded of how more at ease and in control of my life I feel when I can control my response, attitude, mood and energy towards outer circumstances. I am far from perfect, I still occasionally have my very reactive moments (some that have cost me dearly) and know I have a long way to go but to answer the question why bother? Because the thought of living another 5, 10, 15, 20 or 40 years letting negative emotions, negative thoughts and self-limiting beliefs keep me from my true potential and from truly enjoying my life, makes me push past the desire to want to give up. I also believe that we will all soon have access to modalities that exist in the world today, which can help us heal our early childhood scars, wounds and traumas, and will fast-track us into being able to develop and harness our higher faculties of mind.
Above I mentioned that 40 minutes a day is not enough for most people but what I didn't say is that those 40 minutes a day, is a great start and can begin to change the course of your life, making it well worth the effort, time and sacrifices needing to be made.
Please stay tuned for my self-published book Balls The Size of Melons; Enjoying the Journey of Life which will have many tips and suggestions on learning to develop the amazing power of our minds.
For now, I leave you with this second quote from Jacob Glass. Remember it and remind yourself to be your own best friend.
“Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy”
“Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy”
Come fly with me:
Join us in helping Youth to harness the power of their minds:
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