Taking Control of Your Mind

Do you believe that you are in control of your mind, or does your mind control you?

We are all very conditioned beings and there are many situations we might feel we have no control over. If we are depressed or anxious or are flooded with negative thoughts, we may believe we have no control over any of it. There are many situations where our conditioning is such that we just automatically react to situations without giving ourselves the chance to actually think about whether we are really thinking consciously about what we are saying, feeling or doing.

The reason this is so important is because so much in our lives depends on our conscious choices. If we react unconsciously the outcome will definitely be different than had we made a choice but consciously.

Why is it so important to us here? Because if you suffer from depression or any stress related problem, one of the difficulties will be that it is difficult to concentrate, focus or to be conscious. With depression and stress related problems we react more than we might under other circumstances. As you will have seen if you have read some of the other articles the dangers coming from having no control over thinking feelings and behavior can have some far reaching and negative outcomes.

We will be concerned now with thinking without thinking, reacting unconsciously. In the article about Negative Automatic Thoughts I described how these thoughts pop up and take complete control of our thinking. If we are not consciously aware, we will have no way of monitoring or challenging our thoughts and when a thought pops up in our head," I am depressed it's a hopeless" because we aren't in control of our thinking and therefore can't challenge it or change it, we are left with believing it's all hopeless. If we have serious anxiety problems and a trigger goes off telling us we can't go shopping because something will happen to us and we might die, we have no defense against these very toxic and damaging thoughts. We need to look after ourselves in order to survive healthily. One way we can do that is to be control of our thinking, rather than our thinking being in control of us we stand a better chance of dealing with the thoughts. If we are in control enough of our thoughts we will have the tools to challenge any negative thoughts that pop up unannounced and unwelcome.

We look after ourselves when we are in control because not only is looking after our thinking good for our mental state, but also when we control our thoughts then our behavior is affected. We don't react if we are in control, we think and act more wisely, or at least with greater thought. We might make a mistake, but we have at least thought consciously, evaluated the situation and come to a conclusion as to how best manage the situation. When we are unconscious we are not in control at all. How can we be if we allow ourselves to react to situations and do nothing about it.

If you are battling with either depression or a stress related problem, you will know very well indeed just how much your thoughts dictate what you think, how you feel and how you behave. It is tedious because under these circumstances you have no control whatsoever. With depression and anxiety it is not viable. You need to be able to control your thoughts, feelings and behavior, otherwise your life will be dictated by a force not of your choosing. You want to be the one to choose, to decide, to dictate your own behavior, you don't want your behavior dictated by an unconscious and undisciplined mind.

The point of this article has been to give you food for thought about taking control of our own mind. Throughout the video tutorials you will have come across this idea in relation to NAT’s, conditioning and consciousness. By now you are very well aware of the connection between them. All you have to do now is to start integrating these ideas into your life if they make sense to you.
There will be more articles the problem of concentration and memory in relation to depression, keep a look out.

Please have your say about this article. We are all here to learn and we would all like to know what you think