Be the Landlord of Your Mind
By mindset, toxic thinking Christian Life CoachingWe have all heard the expression, “you are what you eat.” Or in other words, junk in, junk out. There is so much information in our world today about what to eat and not eat to have a healthier lifestyle. All of that is good and very important. We would certainly enjoy better health if we were more intentional about what we put into our bodies.
However, equally important to what you eat is also what you expose your brain to as well. The brain is like an advanced recorder. It records everything it is exposed to and that is what it must work with. Or, think about your brain as a garden, what kind of crop do you want to produce? Let’s go back to the food analogy. Junk in, junk out. What you sow into your brain is going to produce a crop or reap a harvest. Think of it another way in that you are the landlord of this amazing brain that God has given you. Dr. Fred Luskin once expressed that if you are the landlord of your mind, why would you rent your mental space out to thieves and thugs like anger, rage, negativity and toxic thinking?
What we don’t often consider is what we listen to, what we see, and what we expose our minds to is having a greater impact on us psychologically and even neurologically than we know. If you did nothing but listen to the news 24/7, what do you think your mindset would be like? On the other hand, what do you think your mindset be like watching and playing endless hours of violent video games? You may not think it is impacting you adversely at all because it is just fantasy.
I beg to differ and so do many others who are experts in the field of neurology and brain science. According to Dr. Carolyn Leaf, the brain doesn’t differentiate fantasy from reality. You may not go out and shoot someone, but you are still feeding your brain an anger or aggressive response. Over time that will show up somewhere. You may find yourself becoming quicker with your temper or getting angry more easily. Since our brain only works with the information we give it, the question becomes what are you feeding it?
We live in a negative and often hostile world. I believe now more than ever it is critical to be proactive about what we focus on, expose ourselves to, etc. If you and I want a happier life and a better life, it is not only important to eat better but to become the landlord of our own thought life.