Imagine your mind is a piece of land and it is fertile ready for cultivation. People come far and wide to cast their votes on this piece of land. It starts with a few people, then turns to hundreds, then thousands, and before you know it, you’re ready to give it away just to keep your sanity! Everyone wants a piece of real estate and the greatest piece of real estate is your mind.
For some, social media owns a piece, their boss owns a piece, CNN owns a piece, your family owns a piece, the driver who tailed you three weeks ago owns a piece, and before you know it you own nothing. You have given your greatest treasure to some of the worse agents. It’s like we just hand over our greatest assets to thieves and expect for them to return them.
We live in a time period where there is a constant flow of information generated and thrown in your face. Today, information is king and the one who has the most of it and gets it to you the quickest is king, so, therefore, your mind is the finish line, and everyone is rushing towards it. Since we are social creatures and live in an “information is king” age, it is inevitable we will face a bombardment of information daily. The key to taking back your mind is by establishing a mental filter. All information does not serve to benefit us, therefore, a filter is needed to “check” whatever comes into our minds. My filter is a few questions I ask myself whenever I feel myself getting upset, anxious, or overwhelmed, such as “At this point and time, is this the best thing I should be doing? Out of all the things I could and should be thinking about, is this really the thing I should be focusing on?”
This has helped me eliminate unproductive thoughts and activities in my life and reinforces a purposeful focus on inner peace. You can take back your time when you have a filter. You will never say “I don’t have enough time” ever again because your filter is the eliminator of mental clutter. No more time for Keeping Up with The Kardashians, because you are too concerned about keeping up with improving your personal finances and health goals. No more negative filled news, because you just got some great news that you got the new job you applied for. You know why because you shut out the nonsense and got to work on your life.
Overall, there will never be a slowdown in traffic when it comes to information but you have the power and the right to determine what you allow to fester in your mind. Your filter is your traffic light and not everything should get a green light into your mind and life. Own your mind and do not rent it out to tenants of nonsense and debauchery. Next time nonsense comes knocking on your door, let ’em know you’re the owner and your mind and your time are not for sale!
Photo Credit: “We Built A Responsive Web Design Framework, But It’s Not For Sale.” Brolick.com. Sept. 2013.
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