My mind wanders because… it can on it’s own… and at other times, I allow it to. The problem comes when my mind, “just wanders off on it’s own.” Like a dog left off it’s leash, in an unfenced backyard.
When you become aware the dog is gone you start to look around to see where it is, and realizing it is not where it is supposed to be… you act, you walk out into the yard, you start to look for the dog, in order to get it back where it belongs.
The same holds true when our mind ‘wanders off.’ We need to be aware it is happening, so that we can act, refocus, and get it back on track or back into the yard.
How do we employ mind strengthening techniques?
The basic strength rep is saying, “No,” to our mind, when at an inopportune time it decides to slip off task and goes sniffing around on it’s own.
The problem with saying “No,” to your mind is the same problem you run into when training the aforementioned dog. A dog doesn’t register “No,” as a legitimate command. It doesn’t correlate to a specific behavior, and we overuse it too much, it is regulated to just a noise we make… usually in an excited state around a tipped over garbage can… “No,” is not a command. It is a response.
“Sit” “Whoa” or “Wait,” can be trained commands that a dog recognizes instantly. We need to develop a specific, actionable, vocabulary to train our brain with so that when it wanders off, on it’s own, we can command it’s attention instantly back onto the task at hand.
The saying, “not all who wander are lost,” is true… but another truth is that… not every mind that wanders is off focus.
The difference for me is whether…
- Is it an appropriate time for mind wandering i.e. safety issues, like driving a car
- Is it an intentional attempt at wandering to solve a problem or to relax
Again, my issue has been with my mind wandering off… on it’s own… at an inopportune time, just like that curious dog.
Flourishing in Body, Soul and Spirit
JANUARY 19
“…dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves….” 2 Corinthians 7:1
“You were created to know three worlds—the spiritual, psychological, and material worlds. These can be considered the world above us, the world within us, and the world around us. These worlds are related to the three parts of our human nature—spirit, soul, and body. When you are rightly related to the material world with your body, you are healthy. When you are rightly related to the psychological world with your soul, you are happy. And when you are rightly related to the spiritual world in your spirit, you are holy.
God’s aim is that ultimately you are to experience all three realities: health, happiness, and holiness.
Take a snapshot inventory of your life. Where do you need to start making changes to live a healthier lifestyle? What is your emotional barometer telling you about.”
Article found at https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/love-worth-finding
Resource found at https://www.lwf.org/ (Love Worth Finding Ministries with Adrian Rogers)
I am working on my mind. I have discovered it has a weakness concerning… responsibility. I am in the process of determining a ‘mental fortitude’ training regiment.
The problem?
To access my mental weakness to strengthen it I have to apply enough stress to get to a point of failure, or in this case… catching my mind checking out at an inopportune time. It’s been happening as I’m learning a new job at work. At very inopportune times.
I’m learning that a mind that can check out like that, is using a survival technique. Your mind employs it during high stress or traumatic incidents. I am also learning that the abuse I encountered as a child is just such a traumatic event.
My mind is trying to protect me, I believe, because it cannot distinguish ‘good stress’, like learning a new skill at work, versus ‘bad stress’… like sexual abuse as a child.
It only recognizes ‘high stress,’ and it only has ‘one way,’ currently, to deal with it, which is… to divert my attention away from the thing that is causing the stress or pain, and check out… in order to not have to experience it consciously.
I now believe what protected me as a child has hindered my mental capacity to becoming mature mentally. I’m seeing the evidence of this in my capacity to directly engage in responsibilities of a mature nature like… engaging in my personal finances, engaging in self development, engaging and being willing to apply my mind, and confront my personal immaturity that behaves like a small child, and runs away from the issues at hand.
To ‘mentally wander off’ is not a bad thing in and of itself. The word ‘wander’ has a root in it’s etymology that means ‘to walk.’
Interestingly, many great personalities of the world incorporated a ‘daily walk’ into their routines. People like… Albert Einstein, Ludwig Van Beethoven, William H. Danforth, Henry David Thoreau and Charles Dickens. All in an effort to be healthy, balanced and more productive.
Science is starting to show that grinding through a project isn’t always the best way to go. Taking a walk allows the brain to come at a problem from a different angle and allows for ‘Aha!’ moments to happen, inspiration to bloom, and a renewed excitement and insight concerning the task at hand. Along with good health benefits. Especially for brain health.
So like adding a check cord to that wayward dog… our minds also need to be contained and exercised on purpose, by being exposed to heavier stresses, like balancing the checkbook, learning a new skill, or taking on more responsibility at work.
The Stoics have the philosophy that the ‘obstacle is the way.’ I need to face my obstacles to find my way.
To wander aimlessly is human… to walk, and think with purpose… divine.
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