Your thought-life determines the direction of your life. This truth is well stated by King Solomon in his famous maxim, “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 2:7).
Like I stated in my first article on the “mind series” last week, the heart is sometimes used in connection with thought or spirit in a metaphoric sense. We know that thinking is a function of the brain. And although the heart is mainly the organ on the left side of the chest that pumps blood through the body, it is also used to describe attitude, or the operations of the subconscious mind
Thus, when someone has done us good, we say he or she has a good heart or good spirit toward us, but when the act is evil, we say it came from a bad heart; it was in a bad spirit. Your mind and spirit never sleep, even when you are asleep, they continue to function naturally. Your heart beats without your contribution or cooperation; but while your mind also tends to function every minute without your effort, you have to determine what it thinks most of the time.
However, sometimes, your mind receives information without your conscious effort from diverse sources like the spirit, physical or subconscious images, the information you get from many sources, etc. Take note of this, the human body has three compartments: spirit, soul and body. Of these, only your body is tangible. Your spirit and soul are intangible entities.
That’s why when someone faints, we breathe into his nose to resuscitate him or her. We are imitating the breath of life that God gave to Adam to make him a living soul. You can see that the soul and the spirit are attached. Once the spirit departs, death occurs. All consciousness is fully lost and memories are obliterated.
Why? The soul has three sections: mind, will and emotions. Your mind, which controls your thoughts and memories, is the subject of this series. Your will deals with your resolve or determination, while your emotions deal with feelings such as love, pain, sorrow, etc. At death, the soul and spirit leave your physical body, which lies dead and unconscious. Your thought, which is formed in your mind (seat of intelligence) is what shapes your life.
When a man loses his mind, his spirit will still be there but that person becomes insane. He doesn’t die. But you have to guard your mind jealously because what gets in there determines who you become. If you take hard drugs or smoke weed, you may end up losing your mind and, ultimately, your life. No mad person lives their life to the full. They live in so much misery that their life is cut short abruptly. Although no one can live without their spirit, no one lives a normal, healthy life without a sound mind either.
If you take narcotics, for instance, you destroy your destiny and you bring shame to your family. Chronic alcohol abuse or medicines like stimulants could destroy your mind. Involvement in wayward cults, voodoo or any such satanic forces could destroy your mind, and ultimately your entire soul as the other segments of emotions and will are affected.
Most criminals and terrorists get high on drugs before they are able to kill, maim or carry out horrendous attacks on innocent people. All the serial killers on rampage in cities across the world, be they terrorists or those with serious mental disorders, are usually not in a normal state of mind. They have either been exposed to mind-twisting substances, or ideologies that distort their worldviews, and then they run amok as agents of death.
If you, however, think good thoughts, you will naturally attract good things. Toyota automobile company, ran an advert some years ago with a catch phrase, “Good thinking, good product.” Sure! Good thoughts are developed by deliberate exposure to positive people, books, ideologies, religion, philosophies, movies, news, and images. For all these influence your thought-life. God didn’t give you a mind to use as the devil’s workshop. You’d account to God for what you did with your mind. Whether you use your mind to plot evil schemes or conceive good ideas is entirely up to you.
Your thought even reflects on your body, face, attitude, and your entire personality. A positive thinker looks at the sunny side of life. A negative thinker views the bad side. If you see the cup half-full, you are positive-minded, if you see it half-empty, you are the negative type. Faith is driven by a positive mindset. Invest your thought and effort in things that edify, things that edify the world, even if it causes you great inconvenience.
Negative thoughts produce sickness, defeat, self-pity, lack of confidence and fear of failure. Those who have low self-esteem are most likely negative in their thought-life. They are easily discouraged because of the thinking that life has dealt them a heavy blow.
Bob Marley sang: “Everyman thinketh his burden is the heaviest, but who feels it knows it.” What pain is exclusive? None. We all go through the same experience; your attitude to it determines your altitude. Failure is an event, success is a destination. Let’s continue the conversation in this “mind series” next week.
WEEKEND SPICE: Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are probably right. – Henry Ford
Folks, nice being with you. We’d do it again next Friday.
•Ladi Ayodeji is an Author, Rights Activist, Pastor and Life Coach. He can be reached on 09059243004 (SMS and Whatsapp only)