Guard your mind, no one else can or will
We do not really need to wait for the New Years to follow good resolutions, appropriate behavior or strategies for a happy life. These are some things that should be practiced all year round to yield unlimited joy of living. But, when a new day in the calendar is prompting us to forget the inappropriate past and pick something good ahead, why not utilize it for a positive start? Though we are expected to live life to the fullest every day of the year, why not allow the New Year to act as a much needed catalyst?
While there are many good things one can start for the New Year, nothing is above the ‘mind’ that guides and controls us. Though our dear mind is more of our own reflection, it often tends to wander around, leaving us to thoughts, procrastination, doubts and tensions. It succeeds in pushing us into a maze of worries, while it enjoys our restlessness.
Mind is an essential part of our existence, only if we treat it well with adequate energy and strength. If we fail to guard a wandering mind, it can escape into an unwanted territory, forcing us to follow suit; like a naughty child, going to dangerous or prohibited places. It is important to use it for our good, rather than allowing it to have an upper hand. Unnecessary thinking will only distract us from the goal.
This brings us to the task of guarding it well. Protect it from useless disturbances. Stay away from negative feelings or hurtful acts. Do not allow it to steer you around, rather take the control in your hands and act accordingly.
To materialize this thought into a concrete project, these are some guidelines for our dear friend, we all call ‘mind’:
1. What people think about you is not important, relevant, significant, useful or within your hands. Assumptions, misunderstandings and doubts based on someone else’s thinking will only add to further chaos, hence do not think on their behalf.
2. Overthinking is the most unproductive activity. Under the pretext of reasoning and analysis, we often tend to think unnecessarily, only to realize that everything was just vapor in the air.
3. Mind is more of a plain field, it can grow beneficial crops or unwanted weeds, depending on how you handle the farming. As soon as you realize that negativity is gripping it with worries, pull the weed out and throw it away.
4. Focus on the task in hand, rather than dreaming about what you will do tomorrow. Sure, tomorrow’s plans are more colorful, exciting, and enthusiastic; but it is not true until next 24 hours, so forget about it.
5. Thinking and planning are two different things- planning adopts a productive and practical essence, while thinking is more of unnecessary loitering. Hence do not mix the two. Plan for an expected output, rather than thinking for some uncertain reality.
6. Love your mind before you go around loving others. Unless you make yourself happy, you cannot spread joy around.
7. If your mind is convinced of your actions and plans, you are good to go. Making an effort to justify yourself to others may only drain away all your energy. It is impossible to impress or work as someone’s puppet.
8. If your mind needs repeated justifications, you are wrong somewhere. Change the approach and start over again.
We can talk and create innumerable guidelines, but unless we follow at least some of it, nothing good may actually happen. Cheers to a happy start!
-Lavanya
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