Who Guards Your Heart and Mind?

byShalei67

231 followers

5 years ago

“A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.” James Allen, As A Man Thinketh quote.

Who stands as the guard to your heart and mind?

James Allen was a British writer of philosophy and inspirational works. His best known published work came out in 1903 called As A Man Thinketh. Clearly, he was inspired by the greatest book known to man, the Bible. For this very quote was elaborated upon by the one many Christians have known found in Proverbs 27:19 which is: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Jesus preached about it during his ministry on earth. As he set about the path to teach his people and anyone else who wanted to learn more, he shared that in order to become a better person or a disciple of his, the person had to change. Change meant sacrifice. Change meant inconvenience. Change leaving behind what was familiar and comfortable.

It starts from within the heart and mind. The Book of Proverbs inspired men like James Allen and many others throughout the centuries before him to write about improving one's self, challenging one's character to bring significance and service to the world.

Motivational speakers will tell us time and again, the mind harbors all thoughts both good and bad. If we want to make a change for the better, we must change the way we think. We must fill our mind with better thoughts and eliminate or neutralize the bad thoughts with positive ones.

But there is also another KEY area that we often forget to include: our hearts. Not the physical, organ that keeps us alive each day, but the spiritual aspect that works with the mental component (our mind) of ourselves.

To understand and apply the basic principle to "guard your heart" means to accept, adapt, invite and embrace teachings and instructions that keep you from allowing toxic, unloving, contentious and hateful discord from influencing you daily.

Whether it is from wisdom from the Bible or some other faith that helps you, what you gain and learn must align with the goals you want to achieve in order to fulfill your life. To do this, you must protect your mind and heart from things that could infect you with bad or negative influences.

It can often mean leaving behind former associations and connections that always get you into trouble or create havoc and chaos in your life.

It can often mean changing bad habits that impact your health or create financial stress in poor decision-making.

It means reading and immersing your mind with the right kind of social media tutorials, videos, virtual workshops and reading materials to train yourself how to think better.

Sometimes, it can even mean going against your own family influences. This area can be very difficult if you are living in the same house. I know. I have been there. It is a battle every day because of their influence, so you must choose to armor yourself with strong, positive thoughts and affirmations.

A perfect example is your computer. It must be protected against "viruses" of any forms that could be harmful to your programs, software and hardware alike. Just Google it and you can find all kinds of "anti-virus", "anti-malware" and even "anti-adware" programs to filter out the "junk" your computer whether you are aware of it or not.

If you do not know alot about these programs, besides researching it online, you can find someone who knows a lot about these programs. A co-worker, a friend, a relative or a professional expert. Why? Because learning also means seeking out an SME: subject matter expert.

The same applies to your heart and your mind. Your heart is thought to be the seat of your emotions, your passions, the link between mind and soul that causes you to feel like soaring when you experience falling in love for the first time. The elation you feel when after years of rejection letters, you are a published writer. The joy of becoming a first-time parent and seeing the miraculous creation you contributed to in the form of a baby girl or boy. Or twins!

The mind captures these emotions and thru an incredible integration of hormones, cellular growth and brain pattern integration, set out to accomplish whatever ever you hope to achieve to be fulfilled. Listening to some of the motivational teachings of Tony Robbins, Lisa Nichols or even Oprah Winfrey can help you "renew" your mind and and heart and you will "transform" into a better version of yourself.

More often than not, it is in the form of some service or value to a higher cause than yourself. that brings fulfillment. Achievement can be taught such as the trainings and classroom experiences here at the WA site.

Fulfillment is an art, according to Tony Robbins. This can only happen if you protect your heart and mind....to guard them against uncertainty, shame, guilt or self-destructive habits of being unloving to yourself.

So be wiling to be "transformed" - how? "by the renewing of your mind" and I use this because I grew up learning the principles of the Bible and being influenced by my family and other people who provided some mentoring throughout my growing up.

I still use coaches like Lisa Nichols. I still listen to teachings of Tony Robbins. I recently started listening to the financial "gold" nuggets of Dan Lok. Their influence is helping me reshape myself into a better version of myself.

Romans 12:2 is often used to encourage others to think, speak, act differently than the majority. So be bold and take a stand. Dare to be different. Dare to dream. Dare to hope.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:34, NIV.