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| Unlimited Potential of the Human Mind (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If you saw Guilie Castillo Oriard's guest post from Wednesday, you know what song I've picked for my Battle of the Bands post this Sunday November 15th. She's already told you that I'll be using the Mexican hit song "Preso" which was originally performed by José José . If you missed Guilie's post I hope you'll go back to check it out and leave her a word of encouragement or whatever you want to tell her. And though I don't need to give any more song clues, I will continue to stay on the topic that Guilie and I have been discussing--prison as a metaphor.
Actually I'd like to expand on the subject of the mind and how it can affect our physical existence and our perception of our world. This is a huge topic so I can only scratch the surface in one single blog post. I'll return to this one day I'm sure. It's the kind of topic you could write a book about and many have already been written.
The Mental Prison Metaphor
If we are considering a metaphorical prison we are not necessarily dealing with a physical place with walls and locked doors, nor are we thinking of sentencing times administered by a judge. A symbolic prison metaphor instead entails a matter of the personal perception of ones own circumstance. We may feel trapped by real things such as a job, a relationship, or a financial situation for example, but in reality if we are able to adjust our own thinking we can be free from that prison of perception. The prison devised by the mind is confining, but only to the extent that the mind is willing or able to do this.
The mind has extraordinary power that most, if not all of us have not tapped. Our minds can set us free or keep us imprisoned. Knowledge of how to use the mind can help us find that freedom, but sometimes we settle into a comfortable place that fears any change in our situation. We are mostly confined by that fear and the unwillingness to step out of the comfort zone.
Fear, health, finances, or personal circumstances can all be forces that hold us back, but ultimately these are mostly a matter of mind. The mind can put all of these things into proper perspective and even control the root of the problems. Indeed, the mind can make us sick as well as bring us healing. What we are and what we do with what we have available to us is measured by and ultimately controlled by the mind.
What powers do you think the human mind has? What holds you back from overcoming your life obstacles by using the power of your mind? Do you think the power of suggestion is viable to influencing your personal condition or do you think this is mostly an illusion?
Join me here on Sunday November 15th for the Battle of the Bands showdown between two very different cover versions of José José's "Preso".
The mind is the most powerful force in the universe. Nothing is created or happens without thought first. When I was in a difficult personal situation, someone asked me what was stopping me from making a change. One could have said fear, but it was the scenarios that my mind concocted that brought on the fear. To control your own thoughts is one of the steps on the path of happiness.
ReplyDeleteEm, wow, good to see you here!
DeleteWe are often our own biggest obstacles to our personal progress. We can imagine ourselves out of succeeding just as much as we can imagine our success. How we truly see ourselves is often what we become.
Lee
I think there's a lot we can accomplish if we focus on the strength of our minds. And not just all that stuff they say we could do if we used more of our brain's capacity. A strong mind can power through any barrier.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I can't argue with you on that, but my mind might think myself out of getting things done.
DeleteLee
The power of suggestion is huge. Ask any advertiser, politician, or religious leader. We have power over ourselves, and sometimes over others. If we keep this in mind, we can free ourselves from mental prisons. I admire people who think for themselves and don't fall victim to other people's power of suggestion.
ReplyDeleteMary, those who master the art of persuasion can take advantage of the weaknesses in the minds of others. We do have to stay aware and learn to think properly.
DeleteLee
During my son's illness and after his death I was seeing a counselor who practiced mindfulness. One of her therapies was something called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Basically, the therapist walks the patient through a memory in a way that leads to a peaceful resolution.
ReplyDeleteAll during the procedure she would move her finger back and forth in front of my face and I would follow her finger with my eyes.
The left – right eye movements in EMDR therapy are a form of “bilateral stimulation”.
I was skeptical at first. But it works. Not so much through the power of suggestion, but rather through a redirection of thought.
I was able to free myself of a guilt that I had carried with me for most of my son's life. It was a matter of going down a different mind-way path.
Yeah, I would say the mind, which is never quiet, is very powerful.
Lynda, I've never heard of this technique, but if it works it's difficult to dispute. Most of us need our thoughts redirected in positive ways.
DeleteLee
I recently saw a hypnotist at, of all places, a comedy club. I went in a skeptic and left educated...prior to that my experience was what you saw in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, but the real thing, while it certainly does not work on everyone, was quite impressive.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the mind is powerful and there is so much we do not know about it.
Larry, hypnotism is a true and powerful force in the right hands. It's been scoffed at due to the pop culture references, but it can actually work.
DeleteLee
This is a good topic for me. I'm getting older and thinking too much lately. I would say it is a female thing but I know men who do the same thing. I think it is the slowing down. I used to be too busy to process the news. I only listened. Same is true for other parts of my life.
ReplyDeleteAnn, I'm one of those men getting older who does the same thing as you're describing. I've always been a thinker, but now I seem to have some different thought processes at work.
DeleteLee
The mind is the most powerful and how we use it even more so. It can make us climb mountains or keep us within our 4 walls that we create. I see people every day who are in fear due to debt. Some are open to suggestions no matter how difficult, like selling their home, but others refuse to see what is before them. They have built up so much fear that they have created their own prison and refute any option put towards them. As for the power of Suggestion?? Oh yes, just look at advertising and see how quickly people can be swayed. I can tell what is the "new" thing by the people coming to my office whether it be the latest car or Christmas junk, I mean toy, that they must have. We are inundated with the power of suggestion everywhere we go, we just don't realize it
ReplyDeleteBirgit, fear and doubt are our biggest hindrances in breaking free. Sometimes we need to listen and heed what others are saying. The problem is that we listen to a lot of the dumb stuff and then we're hooked into the mainstream of media think and not thinking enough for ourselves.
DeleteLee
Well Done, Lee~ I am fearing Friday the 13th-today. Normally it is a lucky day for me...so, I am wondering why this descent of don't go...
ReplyDeleteYes, face the fear, shut up the monkey mind! Thanks, I needed this~
Happy Friday to you~
Ella, today got a bit weird. It was like Friday the 13th.
DeleteLee
With my posts this week, you may know that I went through a self-imposed mental prison this week- and all it took to get out was to admit something I was repressing. Once I did, "it was like a big zit in my brain popped." Like the Eagles said, "So often times it happens, that we live our lives in chains- and we never even know we have the key."
ReplyDeleteCW, freedom essentially comes down to ourselves. And freedom is not always a physical state.
DeleteLee
What you think whether happy or sad things you get more in your life, meaning think happy and you'll be happy and vice versa.Wonderful post and interesting to read Lee.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Yvonne, so true. Our outlook determines how we feel.
DeleteLee
I'm so focused on finances and money that every time my stepkids text my husband I have a panic attack and wonder how much it's gonna cost us this time. My terror over having nothing is holding me back big time. I lost everything and it's taking way, way longer than I thought to climb out of it.
ReplyDeleteJoJo, I can relate--being stressed over finances can be burdening. For me, God has always provided in the past and I trust in that for the future.
DeleteLee
Yes. YES! I'm a believer, Lee. The mind is all. How we perceive things is what defines our reality. Understanding that it's a choice, this perception, is what sets us free. Okay, it's what's set me free :) Great post, Lee.
ReplyDeleteGuilie, it's interesting to compare perceptions concerning a situation with others in the same situation. It's a matter of curiosity to me to see how others are experiencing the same thing I'm going through. We can all be so different.
DeleteLee
Karen, I'm aware of so many seemingly great ideas that pass fleetingly through my mind to be lost somewhere deep within. I try not to let negative thinking hinder me too much, but still it does influence me. Controlling the mind is a great challenge.
ReplyDeleteLee
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32). If you feel like you are a prisoner to something, anything, - or if you ARE a prisoner and do not even realize it yet - Jesus taught us this reality in John. I think that it is quite literally true.
ReplyDeleteSBB6, I believe this is true as well. The best advice is found in the pages of the Holy Bible.
DeleteArlee Bird
Wrote By Rote
Hi Lee - definitely we 'own' our own mind and thoughts that prevail .. and we are individual ... we have the capacity to use our mind to its fullest. I would hope we can escape others' minds ... so releasing our own thoughts and ideas to be your own person - an essential in life.
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
Hilary, so much of our daily thinking is just from the surface. Many of us never dig deep enough to find the richest treasures that our minds hold. The mind is like a mine.
DeleteArlee Bird
Wrote By Rote
I think we can be a prisoner of pretty much anything, if we allow ourselves to be...television, a person, drugs, alcohol, anything. I try to focus on the positive and live in the moment, because life is so short and we just never know what will happen. Great food for thought, thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I agree with you. We can be a prisoner of good and bad, negative and positive. We have the power freeing ourselves or staying in bondage. When we recognize that then we are better equipped to address the issues in our lives.
DeleteLee
Another reminder that we really need to pay attention to what we think about, because it does attract what we actually get. The mind can be our prison or our freedom.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I've always been a thinker, but now my thoughts have become even more convoluted with thinking about world affairs as well as my own issue. I also tend to pay a lot more attention to the news than I used to.
DeleteLee
Our mind is indeed powerful! It can use it's powers of suggestion on us, and also succumb to external forces of influence and oppression when we are not careful. I say in those cases, it is most often the Ego Self that takes control of our minds.
ReplyDeleteI think we function best when our mind is unified with our hearts. which is to simply say we live a life of harmony whereby our internal thought process lines up with the outward manner in which we live our life.
For example, a man might think in his head and even declare publicly that he is a Family Man! That his loved ones are the most important thing in the world to him. Yet, he continually chooses the work which pays him in monetary value, over spending time with that family. The pursuit of money, power or prestige are actually what he devotes the most of his time. He lives in disharmony: the worst kind of mental prison I think.
Rory, a conflicted life leads to conflicted thinking as well as the other way around. You've broken this down well.
DeleteLee
So many people feeling limited by circumstances could learn very valuable, important lessons from people who've done so much more with even less, such as a warm, happy family life in a small efficiency apartment or an accomplished scholar in a wheelchair and unable to leave home.
ReplyDeleteCarrie-Anne, and yet many, maybe most, people are unwilling to even attempt to see another perspective. We see things from our own perspective and that's what seems most relevant to us.
DeleteLee