The Mind Plays Tricks
“The mind plays tricks on you” roughly translated from my mother tongue, dad used to always say this to me. He learned this from my grandma (may she rest in peace) his mother-in-law who always taught them this important lesson. I never understood it until a few years ago.
My father likes to throw a lot of Igbo proverbs at me to which I would nod and log in my memory bank to decipher later. I finally understood when over and over my reality did not match up to what my mind would be saying.
The lies it will have you believe.
Lie 1 big booty and big thighs are not desirable. Petite and dainty are more feminine.
My mind would constantly try to have me believe this. Yet reality said otherwise. I would often be complimented that my best assets were my legs and my behind!
Lie 2: You are not smart enough. Nothing you do will make you smart enough. More deception!
However, I would get caught up in these lies and tricks. Discovering myself spiraling down with these thoughts and finding reasons to believe it. Then I would start plotting how to fix this lie. Because that was always what comforted my mind, a sense of control, the ultimate fixer. When in fact the mind often created these problems and solved very few. You see its hard to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. But I persisted at first I put up no resistance to taking whatever it told me to be the truth. Until a voice within started to ask questions. The voice started to challenge some very ingrained beliefs my mind had.
Lie 3: To pursue your dreams at the age of 31 is irresponsible!
The voice challenged this. I even found myself looking up examples of people who had pursued their dreams against all odds. So my risk was minimal in comparison. My mind fought back. And then the light bulb went off. There were two voices here. The one I always saw as me (“the I”) and then this other voice, which felt familiar but often only came about when I had those intuitive moments. I realized that the voice I thought was the “I” was my ego but the real me was the other which observed.
I am not my thoughts
I felt relief when I recognized what these thoughts were. My ego and it’s never-ending needs.
My neurotic thoughts did not have to consume me. But how would I quieten my mind to hear my true “self”?
I knew I needed to dive deeper. So I looked back at moments when I felt most connected to my “true self”. Times when I knew this was not the right decision or right path deep within but could not explain how I knew. When my writing poured out from me but yet it seemed separate to me. I thought back to those moments and saw they often came from stillness. My connection to my higher self often came without force. When I lacked resistance to what the answer was as suppose to what I wanted the answer to be. When I was most at peace and open to sitting with the possibility that my mind had not conjured up.
So how could I be still in a chaotic world? How could I harness this newfound power within me?
There are many names for it, one’s inner self, the soul, the authentic self, and so on.
What we have come to know is that this is our truest self. Our happiness on this earth is the expression and harmony with this truest form of ourselves. The problem with today’s world is there is now so much distraction. With technology, social media, heck tinder pulling us away from finding the quiet to connect with our inner selves. Add to this, the conditioning from childhood and we can see how many will have passed through this earth, and still their souls would not have known peace nor real happiness.
Here is my quick-fire list for connecting to your higher self.
Why bother to connect to one’s higher self?
Most of us function fine in the chaos of life. That is if “ain’t broke then don’t fix it” mentality. But that right there is the mind playing tricks on you. It will have you believe that feeding the insatiable ego is a life well spent. But when you connect to your higher self you realize that there is more to life. That the burdens, the worries, the aches you couldn’t explain do not have to rule your life. In its place a realization and acceptance of our mortality and thus the gift this life is. And as such we owe it to ourselves and the creator who gifts us to live it in our truest form. There is beauty in this not sadness. And power in knowing that our happiness doesn’t lie in material possessions. Nor in likes on a page but rather from within.
It starts with stillness to allow the ray of light to shine through.
One battle many women (including black women) fight during holiday seasons or holidays like this is how to stay motivated. The holiday season is a great time to which we all look forward. But let’s face it, holidays aren’t only rosy and jolly. They come with their fair share of work and distractions.
One battle many women (including black women) fight during holiday seasons or holidays like this is how to stay motivated. The holiday season is a great time to which we all look forward. But let’s face it, holidays aren’t only rosy and jolly. They come with their fair share of work and distractions.
“How do I get new ideas every day?” This is one question people often ask towards the end of the year.
Most people want to get new ideas to plan their goals for the New Year.
Look, everything you will do and become in life starts with an idea.
We can say your life is a reflection of the ideas you’ve been executing. My point is, you must become an idea machine if you are going to live life to its fullest potential.
For black women, self-care routines are important. Think about this: we take time out of the little we have to take care of family, friends, spouses, and even co-workers but we always bury our own needs.
In the long run, it can be harmful to us both physically and mental…
