battle with the mind . .

I’m always looking for ways to tune up the old brain . . make it work better then it did the day before . . it’s like a bank . . i want to build up interest over a certain amount of time . . 100 years from now my brain is going to be worth it’s weight in gold

BUT .. it’s a constant battle to train or reprogram your mind to think a certain way about things that happen in your daily life.

How you mentally approach what happens to you .  . the choices you make, the lack of choices you make . . how you handle a situation . . the negative thoughts that run through your head . . negative association to things . .

We’ve been programmed with so much EMOTION as people . . to feel a certain way when something happens to us . . be sad when someone doesn’t call . . be happy when someone makes the effort . . be angry when something doesn’t go our way.

We give WAY too much power to others & external things. 

We gotta learn to let go of the belief that “without this, i cannot be happy.”

“Without this person in my life, i cannot be happy.”

“Without this opportunity, i cannot be happy.”

Happiness doesn’t lie in these things.

People feel emptiness and then rush to fill that emptiness with someone or something.

We go through agonies over things WE create in our own heads . . we convince ourselves our happiness depends on certain things.

If someone lies to you, are you upset because they lied to you?

No.

In your mind, you’ve put this person on a pedestal and based your happiness on their actions . . so now that they’ve let you down, you’re upset.

I’m reading this book by Anthony De Mello “Discovering Awareness”, and here’s an analogy that i really, really like that i think sums us up to a T:

“You’ve got a concert hall. Symphony is playing. You’ve settled down nicely in your seat. Dark atmosphere. And you’re getting ready to enjoy it. And then suddenly you remember you forgot to lock your car. You can’t get out, too disturbing, you can’t enjoy the music, caught in between, that’s the image of life for most people. Constant anxiety. What am I going to do now, what’s going to happen next, How do I cope with this, how do I cope with that.”

I just think that’s so true, in SO many ways.

MENTALLY, we need to reprogram our brains to not be so emotionally drained by the external . . and program our minds to subconsciously deal with things in a calmer state. . not go into that “fight or flight” mode . . that anxiety and stressful emotional rollercoaster in our heads when “negative” things happen to us. Whether it be related to work . . relationships . . partners . . whatever.

It’s a CONSTANT struggle . . everyday . . but i know that i’ve come a LONG way in how i react to things mentally now . .  it’s just about making that conscious effort to make that shift in your head & detach yourself from those reactions that drain you.