The Mind, the Brain…and a toddler with a knife

    Toddlers and knives…not typically mixed.

So, the mind is this really cool thing that is like this energy force of maturity, responsibility, and the ability to chaperone any event in a honest and respectful way.

The brain however, is more like a bunch of first graders, set free on the playground, after eating ice cream and candy for an hour. They run wild….and without proper guidance, they will hurt themselves.

Our brain is like a child with a knife, that even though they think the bright and shiny object is appropriate for playing with, they undoubtedly require some redirection….to keep them safe.

Soo, enter the mind….the parent mind respects the knife-holding toddler brain, identifies the threat, and calmly removes the knife from the toddler….did I lose you?

The mind filters out the wild brain’s thoughts. Our thoughts, the ones our brain throws around our head all day, is comprised of a ton of suggestions (Thank you Nate for this description).

Suggestions are not always based on accurate information. Seriously, if you have kids, some of their suggestions are pretty out there.

Some of those suggestions are appropriate such as, I need to get the kids; it’s time to shower; I’m going to go to bed….while other suggestions, that often lead to worry, are less helpful, ie: what if something happens; I’m not strong enough for that; that will never work.

The mind has to select the appropriate thoughts that we want to attach some type of action to, but the mind isn’t always perfect….which is why managing your thoughts gets easier, but is not easy to begin. 

There’s a filter that has to be implemented to guide the helpful thoughts to the space where they can remain helpful, as well as to remove the thoughts that are untrue, unhelpful, or not necessary. These are the thoughts that we struggle to filter out, because if our own brain suggested them, they must be true, and necessary, and I must keep thinking them, right?

Nope…very untrue. Very much not at all.

These suggestions are just looking for some guidance. Do yourself a favor and start looking at those toddlers that regularly run around in your head, and see which ones are holding a sharp object: those thoughts, they need to go.