You spend most of your life inside your head. Make sure it’s a nice place to be.

You spend most of your life inside your head. Make sure it’s a nice place to be.
Many of us will spend time taking care of our bodies through exercise, nutrition and cardio, but how many of us are working the same amount of time ensuring that our mind is getting equal attention.
We may focus on our habitat, but that is physical. A wonderful physical habitat minus the mental perspective to appreciate it, is mostly wasted. We may focus on our endeavors, be they learning, training, performing, teaching, creating, etc. We may divert our attention to family, friends, loved ones and give of our beings in that regard.
But the one refuge that is our most important domicile is unquestionably our mind. Without peace of mind, all of the rest is adequate, but nowhere near as fulfilling as it might be.
How then, are we able to leverage all that we have, and know that we are tending our mind, as best as we may?
The truth is, there is no simple answer to this. It is so personal and so unique to each individual, that one person’s formula is another person’s insanity.
The first step towards creating a mental refuge is coming into the present. Many of the mind’s distractions arise from not being in the now. If the mind is racing, it is most likely due to thinking about things that may arise in the near future, or rehashing those that transpired previously.
Once in the now, the next step is to create food for your mind. This is so very unique to each individual, that only your own personal explorations will enable you to find this piece of the puzzle. For some it comes through meditation, and others through religion. Some must be creating with a majority of their free time, or their mind starts to wilt. Some need open space and quiet, others want visual stimuli, and music. It may take its form in the course of walking through a beautiful location, while others are most content in a comfortable chair, sitting by a fire, reading a great book.
The brain has a definitive hunger that must be fed. If you are not listening to it, and feeding it what it requires, it will most certainly make you aware of your lack of mental nutrition.
Once you have found the zone that makes your mind happiest and once you have enabled it to feed on that which creates inner harmony within your being, then it is time to start to feed it new material. That could come in the form of art, media, philosophy, travel, communication with others, etc.
It would be wonderful if there were an easy answer to this question, but, in truth, it is even more wonderful that there is not. With 7 billion minds occupying this planet, how amazing is it that so many are focusing on such a disparate range of topics, stimuli, experiences, and endeavors? This age of diversity creates more opportunity for a fertile mind to blossom than ever before. If you are not feeding yours, then perhaps you are missing out on what life is truly about.
In the immortal words of Grace Slick and Paul Kalkbrenner, “Remember what the dormouse said, Feed your head!”
Happy Saturday!
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