Question. What is living in your head? Is it productive and empowering? It needs to be. Here is an example why……….
I have three sons, aka the “Big Man”, “Middle Man” and “Little Man”….. the surprise baby. The Middle Man has a friend, we’ll call him “Garret”. A few nights back as everyone was leaving our school’s annual fall festival Garret walks by holding a grocery sack full of suckers, must have been over 1,000 of them.
Garret was carrying the bag like a large watermelon, took both hands. As he walked / spun by me on his way to the parking lot his yahoo friends, which included my son, were all trying to get their hands on a few suckers. Garrett wasn’t having it. As he spun around fighting them off he was loudly announcing, “I am The Sucker Hoarder”. I found it amusing. Kids.
Fast forward a few more days. I was making myself a hamburger. As I was constructing my masterpiece I realized we were out of sliced cheddar, only had swiss. I prefer cheddar on a hamburger, lettuce and tomatoes, no Hinds 57.
As I was enjoying said hamburger I remembered how much I loved those thick slices of cheese that my Grandfather would put on the burgers he made me when I was a kid. You know, the kind of cheese that comes as a big orange wheel and they slice off wedges for you by the lb. We called it “Hoop Cheese”. He bought it at Nixon’s grocery.
Fast forward a few more days again. It’s night time, I’m asleep and I have a dream. In my dream I am back at my kids school and Garret, “The Sucker Hoarder”, walks by with a wheel of hoop cheese as big as a watermelon, MY HOOP CHEESE, and he is headed for the parking lot with it. He’s a good 20 yards or so away from me so I start yelling for him to stop but again, he’s not having it, just keeps on going.
In the parking lot beyond “Garret The Hoop Cheese Stealing Sucker Hoarder” is another of my son’s friend’s dad, Jeremy. Jeremy yells at Garret to stop! Tells him that if he can hear me then he knows Garret can hear me too. Garret pulls up and waits for me to get there.
As I reach Garett I pull out a knife, snatch the cheese from Garret and slice him off a generous piece. I tell him that I will gladly share my cheese with him but he can’t have it all because I don’t have any at my house!
Then I wake up. What the heck was that all about??!! Well……
I didn’t finish my psychology degree but I am a thinking man. Short answer. The gate was left open on my subconscious mind and some of the things living in my head, THAT I DIDN’T EVEN REMEMBER WERE THERE, got out! They got a little tangled up and then went for a piggy back ride through my mind.
A light hearted example of what can live under the radar in our subconscious mind but also a great example that once something is in your head…….it’s in there. For better or for worse.
Speaking for myself, I can’t “un-see” or “un-hear” things. Once they are in my head they are just there. I hadn’t thought about Garret or the fact I had run out of cheddar cheese a single time since the day of the event but apparently, both were still there. Just below the surface, waiting for the gate to be left open.
Again, an innocent and humorous example but what if it were something more serious? Something that could slowly lead me in a less than productive direction? Something that could result in bad decisions that might impact not just me but my family? Something to consider as I go about my day to day routine. Gotta protect my mind. So do you!
About a year and a half ago I made some immediate and drastic changes to what I let into my head. In short, I stopped letting the world program me and I made a determined effort to program myself. Changed the content I was down loading every day. It worked. It worked fabulously.
The most noticeable change was that my stress level went way down and my inner peace went way up. Way up. I’m better for it, I’m better for my family, I’m better for the people around me. I’m more useful for God’s purposes, which I asked to be used for.
Today I consider the space between my ears the most valuable piece of property in my world. If I may offer some advice………
Protect your noggin because it is driving the bus. Not only is it driving the bus but the people that are the closest to you and that look up to you, by default, are along for the ride. So, where are you taking them?
Get in the boat. Do your part.
Shane / #16
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