Change Your Mind
We change our minds everyday, about a lot of different things. We make choices and then something makes us want to rethink our choice and change it. It could be a bit of new information, a conversation we had, a feeling that came upon us, or maybe just plain old self-doubt. Whatever the reason, it is our prerogative to change our minds!
But let's take a moment and consider what changing our mind really means. It is, of course an expression for changing a decision or a choice as was used in the above paragraph. We did not actually change our mind. We changed our course of action.
To really change our mind can be one of the hardest things to do for a human being. Our thinking patterns have been developed over our lifetime and are ingrained in our way of naturally doing things. But it is our minds that can make us most unhappy, lead us to poor judgement, and ultimately negatively affect our way of life.
What do I mean?
Our minds are largely a product of our ego, and vice-versa. Our thinking, egoic mind can be very judgemental, selfish, closed, and negative. We can endeavor to quiet the egoic mind and experience the moment without judgement or the type of thinking that leads to only more thinking. We can learn to listen to the self that lies underneath (or beyond) our thinking minds. Some call it our spiritual self, or higher-self. It is the us that is connected to the universe and to all things. It is the us that exists only in the current moment, which is the only reality we will ever know.
If we sit with (actually sit as, because it is our true nature) this higher-self and just experience the moment without egoic thinking, we find serenity, compassion, and abundance. These are all of the things we wish we had, but our ego has edged them out.
If you have some sort of belief in a God, EGO can be an acronym for Edging God Out. If you don't believe in God it can be an acronym for Edging Good Out. Either way, we are better off if we can learn to recognize our egoic thinking and change the direction of our thoughts.
This is what I mean by changing your mind.
If you want to change the way your mind works, it takes practice and diligence. But the payoff is life changing. You must become an observer of your thoughts, and learn to recognize when your ego has taken over. Then you must learn to refocus your attention on the present moment and the reality you are experiencing.
There are many ways you can practice to change your mind. You can do it alone in a quiet room, while you drive, walk, or bike. While you are at work, home, or school. Some call it a mindfulness practice, others a meditation. You can seek out several of these techniques and try them out for yourself and see what is the best fit for you.
For me personally I find a great time to practice is while I am driving. My mind always wanders while I drive, and by refocusing my attention back on the simple task of driving in the present moment I reconnect with my higher-self. I do this every time I get behind the wheel and it serves me many times throughout the day.
If you put in the time you will reap the rewards of a more serene, compassionate, and abundant life. All you need to do is change your mind.
