Buddha or whats on your mind?

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family,to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s mind…..If a man can do this he can find the way to enlightenment and all the wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him…”- Buddha

My young friend Samantha had an assignment in school, to find a quote of Buddha’s and discuss what it meant to her. She then asked me to comment on it.

Our minds are funny things. We can convince ourselves of basically anything. Some people believe we can cure illness by thoughts alone. I’m not quite sure about that one but I do believe we can control, in our mind, our happiness. A great deal of what makes us unhappy is comparing ourselves to others. At the earliest part of our lives we are judged by how we look. Later by the jobs we have. Sometimes by the friends we share. But most of our unhappiness lies in how we perceive ourselves in our OWN mind.

Free the mind of all the clutter in our lives and its easier to see the reasons to be happy. Health. Safety. Freedom. Liberty. Family. The key is to focus on the good things in life, the hard part is doing so. We all have a problem with living in the moment, so much so that most people can not even carry a true conversation anymore. Most people are so in a hurry that what you have to say isn’t important. If people would listen more than speak, they would find a lot of interesting things are said which in turn might bring some form of happiness to their lives.

Controlling your mind, as in the thoughts we have, is a lot harder. I find myself stuck in a rut at times and actually have to force myself to think happy thoughts to get out of it. Its easy to fall prey to feeling sorry for yourself about something and then not being able to shake those feelings. I think the key to it all is to wake up everyday and make a conscious effort to think of something good about yourself or your life. Try to look past the little things that get stuck in your head that drive you nuts. That’s what I think Buddha meant by controlling your mind. If you can blank out the things that get in the way and replace it with a good thought it just might become contagious to your happiness. “Don’t sweat the small stuff”. How many of us fill our day doing just that.

Clearing your mind from all the things you can’t control will make room for all the things that will bring happiness. How many times do we drive to work and not know how we got there? It happens so often that we’re so predisposed that we blank out life around us. This in turn doesn’t allow all the good things to come in. The colors of the sky. The pattern of the raindrops on your windshield. The first bloom of spring. All the things that we should be happy and grateful for in life that we no longer are aware of.

Find a way to live for today, in the moment as they say. Concentrate on the positive in your life. Laugh. Laugh more. Your alive so be happy!

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4 Responses to Buddha or whats on your mind?

  1. Leah says:

    Hey, Regular Guy-
    Don’t worry. Be happy, man! Try the gratitude challenge. Write three things you appreciate every day for ten days and post it to Facebook. You’ll feel warm and fuzzy almost immediately. I also find that volunteering and random acts of kindness bring immeasurable joy to both the giver and the receivers. Keep a happy thought. Remember George Bailey? It’s a wonderful life!

  2. Tommy V says:

    Regular Guy,
    Good topic and well thought out. We all need to feel good about ourselves and the things around us. It’s at times the simple things in life that make us happy or at least myself. Woke up the other day to the sound of birds chirp-ping and it made me feel really good inside. The sound of my son laughing after busting my chops is one of my favorite feelings. Also telling my wife how much I love her is just a great feeling. Sure, it’s easy to get depressed and I still do at times like most. Of late, worrying about medical expenses is heavy on my mind. So, a few simple things help put that problem on the back burner and I feel better. In this day and age, it’s hard to be upbeat. Just turn on the news and it seems everything is wrong with the world. So, we must focus on the good in the world and if you believe in Jesus or Buddha or whomever, they will help take you there.

  3. Jakki says:

    2 thoughts:
    Did you know about the 17 second rule? Whatever you put your focus on for 17 seconds attracts another like thought and so if you are in a positive frame, more positive follows and likewise with negative. This is how we create our reality. So you get to Choose what you want to focus on.

    Second, the world is our mirror. It is always reflecting back to us what we need to see to make the changes that bring us closer to true happiness. We were all programmed to believe certain things as children and as adults we get to choose what is right for us but some things are so ingrained that we need some help from the universe to change them. So the next time someone does something you don’t like to you, it is an indicator of something that needs to change in you. Usually those are the hardest lessons and they require serious committment to letting go of the EGO mind that is VERY sensitive and always needs to be right. The ego is based in fear and doesnt know any different. THIS is the one that needs controlling. It needs to be led by the hand and told that it will be ok if the spirit self, which is based in love and unconditional acceptance, takes the lead. Not easy for most people to do but it is true tranacendence and that is what Buddha was talking about.

    I have been on that journey since 2009 and it has been stormy but worth every ounce of effort. So many wonderful people entered my life since then and so many little miracles have happened. Once you begin to recognize your fears, more bubble up to the surface and want to be cleared. Removing these old outworn thought patterns is empowering yet still scary. But it IS the ticket to freedom and happiness. Because what you think, even on an unconscious level, creates your vibration and until you fix that, you will keep attracting MORE of what you DON’T want. So, FREE your spirit by losing your mind lol!

    Want help with your process? Contact me for a one on one session

  4. Diane Guad says:

    Enjoying your posts , keep them coming, luv ya!

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