Timeless virtue 1: Master your mind

This week we remain within the beautiful garden of our mind with two more exercises you can use to remove the weeds, the toxic waste to continue refering to Robin Sharma’s book: “The Monk who sold his Ferrari”.

Last week we examined The heart of the rose with view of controlling our thoughts and cultivating inner stillness.

Just like weeds take over a garden, if we do not control our thoughts, they will control us.

Robin Sharma says: “If you want to live life to the fullest, care for your thoughts as you would your most prized possessions”.

So what can we do to get rid of worry and other energy draining negative thoughts?

We can pursue the art of Opposition Thinking. As the negative thought enters your awareness: immediately switch it to an uplifting one. He uses the metaphor of a giant slide projector and whenever that negative slide comes up: click it away and replace with a positive one.

Last week I was asked to make a presentation in Third Grade (9 year olds) along the theme ” Free to be you and me” and we also talked about our influence over our thoughts. For them I used the metaphor Kathryn Kramer uses in her book on Asset Based Thinking for Teenagers of a television set. Imagine your brain is a television set with only two channels: the positive one where everything looks bright and cheerful and the negative one where everything is black and grey and gloomy. The only person with the remote control is you and there is always something playing on the other channel. The kids loved it and we tried it out on many real life examples!

So whether the slide projector or TV set, train your brain to immediately detect negative, draining thoughts and replace them by their opposite and become aware of how it affects your body posture, your breathing and how more empowered you are to deal with the issue.

The oher exercise he mentions derives from the concept that everything is always created twice, once in the mind and then in reality. So in order for something to come about, we first need to be able to see it in our mind.This is what turns dreams and desires into reality, being able to see them happen. This lets us know it is possible.

His exercise is called: The secret of the lake

It is very simple. Sit somewhere quiet, shut your eyes and imagine a lake. A large beautiful lake. The water is perfectly still and calm. And as you gaze at it envision your dreams becoming reality. See yourself doing what you aspire to do. Feel how that person doing it feels in her body.What do you hear? Make it as vivid and real as you can. You are only limited by your own imagination.

Pictures affect our self-image and our self-image affects the way we feel, act and achieve.

Try this every day for a few minutes, mentally rehearse how it will be once you have reached your goal.

Robin Sharma goes as far as to say: ” If there is a lack in your life, it is because there is a lack in your thoughts.”

So lets control those thoughts, lets make sure they take us where we want to be going!

Enjoy the rose, enjoy the lake and more next week! Let’s make it happen!