WHERE TO BEGIN?

So I decided to be a ‘blogger’ (a friend called me that).That was kinda easy considering a number of people had been telling me that my thought pattern was quite different, deep and thought-provoking and that I needed to put down my thoughts for sharing. The next step was deciding and specifying what I want people to see on my blog. Human beings naturally have the capacity to think in countless diverse angles within a single minute  but when one allows every thought to flow and take root, what would have been a perfectly focused and organised mind becomes home to a myriad of incoherent logic (that’s talk for another day) so I had to streamline mine and define the purpose(s) I plan to achieve with my blog (name) and that brought me here.

At that point/stage, most people would believe that you’re “good to go” but I realized that at the time when it mattered most, I was stuck. I needed to write an article (my first) and I just didn’t know where to begin so I sat down, watching the speech made by President Barack Obama to the students of Whitfield high school, Arlington Virginia and it struck me that what plagues me is the same that has delayed many and brought countless ‘ideas’ to an abrupt standstill; the question of where to begin.

Life is only as diverse, different, stable or as confusing as the viewer. In other words, what you ‘see’ (seeing is a choice) is what you get and what you sow can’t breed so much more than itself. Its like the law of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out), you know that computer principle that whatever the computer gives you is only as good as what you put into it? They say life is a circle, and what goes around comes around but do you ever wonder what stands at the beginning/end of that circle?

There is one single force that sends forth and therefore determines what circulates and returns to the starting/end point with its assets. That force is YOU. Everything (I mean every trial, success, failure, achievement et al) in your life begins with (or shall I say within) you. (Keep in mind that when I say you, I mean your mind).

Every day, hour, minute, or second that passes by we make choices; the choices of what to  wear, who to greet, what to eat, when to answer the phone…bla bla. What choice we make may be conscious, instinctive or totally unintended; either way, we make them and they affect us. Every part of us.

JOHN MILTON (considered the most significant English author after Shakespeare - I like him because he was born on my birthday) said:

A mind is not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

I’d interpret what he said to mean that the mind creates its own movie and directs it at will and the only factor that may influence it is the script it has been given.

It is simple really, realizing the magnitude and power of your mind leaves you no better place to begin all your endeavours.  Your mind is the most powerful force that drives your life (after God). Think of it as the food or blood that sustains your body, the string whose length determines the extent to which your kite soars or whether it will soar at all or the capital that starts and determines the size of your business.

 That way, you know that if it (your mind) isn’t in a perfect state or condition, you either aren’t going anywhere like the cordless kite or aren’t going to get too far like the N50 capital business (i've been challenged on that one... just saying).

So what to do with your mind?

Feed it: no matter how hard you search an empty space, it won’t produce anything. It’s like when I’m sick and unable to eat for days. I feel like vomiting but no matter how hard I choke, nothing comes out. You have to start putting information into your mind. It never gets filled up anyway. You might not absorb data with the speed of other people but take it in at a pace you understand.

Build it: building the mind takes you a little further from just feeding it. It is about filling it with the ‘right’ info. It’s ok to take in food but if you take the wrong meal at the wrong time (like eating morsel at 11pm, vegetables when you’re purging or feeding a 2month old baby pepper soup), it just kills you (not literally) instead of helping you.

Challenge it: It’s hard to accept or even prove, but the truth is, every human mind has pretty much the same capacity (except for savants and other weird people). What sets some people apart is the extent to which they are willing to broaden their minds. I can just sit down, think and write an article but if I don’t read and research, my writing would be just another one-sided, selfish opinion and that doesn’t really count because everyone has their own opinion. Go beyond yourself and give yourself more to do.

Guard it: unrestricted in-flow of information only generates mental noise. Select what you let your mind linger on. Some things might be true, it doesn’t make them receptive to the growth of your mind; kick ‘em out or better still, don’t let them in at all. This is also a spiritual principle (see 1Peter 1:13a). Negative information is like Samson, it comes across as harmless and bound but in one passive moment can bring down the strongest fortress. You may think of it as a virus in your hard drive.

Check it: introspection is very much a necessity from time to time. You’d be amazed at the things you pick up and even imbibe without realizing it.

Whatever you do, understand that you cannot do IT without your mind so keep it sane and stable and always begin from there.

QUOTES:

All men should know that the brain, and the brain only, is responsible for, and is the seat of, all our joys and happiness, our pain and sadness; here is seated wisdom, understanding, and the knowledge of the difference between good and evil

- HIPPOCRATES-

A healthy mind is both the foundation and the pillar of a healthy life

- Odu Olubukola-

You matter.