One of the best motivational books I ever read was "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer. While it's based on Christian fundamentals (which I don't understand when or how those fundamentals have become so wrong - some Christians and their interpretations maybe... but the teachings and fundamentals are sound - in my opinion) it started a change in my life, because I started to see how I thought about how my thoughts affected my reactions to things, and how things changed or didn't change in my life because of how I thought about them.
This book is filled with wonderful philosophical quotes that sometimes I'd have to meditate on for months because I really wanted to soak them into my very being. Here are a few of my Joyce Meyer favorites:
“You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.”
“Our past may explain why we're suffering but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage.”
“Asking for something is easy… being responsible for it is the part that develops character.”
“Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”
These are some hard truths, yet simplistic in their nature.
My biggest achievements have come when I've changed my glasses. What I mean by that is - things have changed in my life when I've changed my perception of the world. I was angry and hurt for so long, all I saw was anger and hurt, the ugliness of life and society, the cracks in the window. I failed to see the beauty outside the frame. This reminds me of a phrase in a Jack Johnson song, "Breakdown". (You can't stop nothin' if you've got no control of the thoughts of your mind that you keep in, you know. You don't know nothin' that you don't need to know; the wisdom's in the trees not the glass windows.) But, once I learned to breathe, my vision changed and my focus moved from the cracked glass to the beauty around me.
I can't fully express, and I'm a writer, how that has changed my life. Yes, there are still cracked window panes in my life and I'm not ignoring them or pretending they're not there. But, I'm replacing those windows and spending much more time looking out beyond the frame. One positive thought at a time, one idea of hope, one mustard seed of faith at a time is changing my life, changing my view, changing my world. While not all will agree with me, especially those in my past who I've made a change to leave behind, I define these changes as progress.
What about you?
Till next time,
~T.L. Gray
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