This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom
I came across this quote from an unknown source when I was writing my first book and it has stuck with me. "I was free once I realized that the cage was made of thoughts". The mind is so powerful. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Just as I wrote those few sentences we had a medium and prolonged earthquake in Trinidad. It is now around 12 midnight in Trinidad. It was a 6.2 earthquake. I think this earthquake has awakened the entire country. As I reread what I wrote so far I noticed that the word midnight contains the word mind. Midnight = mind + thing. A powerful re-mind-er of what I wrote earlier. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. This has been the slogan of the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) and later modified to say, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in." This promotes the importance of education. I thank my mom for making sure that education was a priority in our household and that I got a solid education as part of my foundation in life.
These days I keep my mind useful and challenged with my book writing. I find that there is freedom in putting my thoughts into words. I tried to find a quote that expresses this same idea but instead I came across this quote by Immanuel Kant, "The power of thought is the light of knowledge, the power of will is the energy of character, the power of heart is love. Reason, love and power of will are perfections of man." My friend Gemini explains the power of thought part of the quote with, "This emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and reason. Just as light allows us to see, thought allows us to understand the world around us." Writing is a way to explore the world and learn new things. It is like saying, "let us see what the mind could find." I like this playful quote from Dr Seuss, "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."
We have to take care of our minds and what we feed our minds. I find that if we are not careful we can easily be consumed by the negativity that surrounds us. We are then inclined to add to the negativity. Instead there is plenty of positivity and through positive thoughts and positive actions we can make the world a better place to be in. Norman Vincent Peale tells us that "Change your thoughts and you change your world." It is approaching morning. My mind and body are in a relaxed state. I have progressed from a few sentences and being shaken up by an earthquake to now a few paragraphs but where can my mind take me now? Through the power of my mind in deciding what to search for and the power of technology and the search engine I came across this BBC article titled - Awe: The 'little earthquake' that could free your mind.
The article through Ethan Kross tells us that awe is the wonder that we feel when we encounter something that we can't easily explain. According to the article, awe can have a profound impact on our mental health, by allowing us to put our anxieties into perspective. I think I needed to hear that. Awe reminds me of my last book "WHY" where I asked lots of questions. Lots of interesting questions. I like that awe begins the word awesome. Why is there only some in awesome but full in awful? A question for another time. Let me continue reading the article. The article tells us that when we encounter something incredible and grand we see ourselves in the grand scheme of things and place less emphasis on our needs and this creates greater altruism. It also has the effect of us placing less emphasis on the negative chatter in our minds. The bottom line is that awe forces us to broaden our perspective. I like how Ethan puts it, "The capacity to step outside of ourselves is a really valuable skill." I guess we can call these experiences "awequakes". You know what just crossed my mind? The awe and wonder of living on the edge of a mountain cliff overlooking a valley. Imagine when rain falls and the feeling of being one with nature. The earthquake struck but I am mind struck by the new perspective and freedom this article and this chapter has brought to me. Guess what? It has started raining heavily just like the rain my mind had imagined.
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