Mind Games

Several years ago, David Copperfield made a jet disappear on live television. For all practical purposes, it looked like he was successful. At the heart of the act was the performer’s ability to make the audience believe that what they were seeing was reality. Essentially, it’s about convincing the minds of all those people that something that cannot be possible might have happened. The hard thing to swallow is that our minds are not that dependable sometimes.

Many of us struggle with how to handle our thoughts, particularly this time of year with the onset of winter and holiday stress. In our minds, we can find ourselves wrestling with dark and destructive ideas that hijack our ability to function. It is helpful to remember that our minds are information processors not purveyors of truth. While we often forget, we actually have control of how we think about things. When we grasp that our brains are biological machines that can be conditioned and programmed in beneficial or detrimental ways, we gain access to changing our thought patterns. We can come to realize that much of our difficulties arise from cognitive distortions that we assume to be true. If we can break free from believing that everything we think must be true, we empower ourselves to develop healthier mental practices that lead to wholeness and balance.

Dealing with our mental health is a complex and broad arena that takes significant work and intention. Despite its difficulty, we are capable of making huge strides toward our own well-being. Like any challenge, if we work on taking small steps toward the solution, we can make a difference. Seeing our minds and our thoughts for what they are is a starting point for developing healthy mental habits that support and encourage us in our daily lives. To do this work, we may need to ask for help in starting the process. Either way, putting our minds in proper perspective creates a solid foundation for us to move forward.