There is a phrase “Food for thought “. This means something to think about, some kind of mental nourishment or food for the mind. Anything that gives you a reason to stop and ponder is food for thought. It’s an expression that’s been around in its current form since the nineteenth century, apparently taking the idea of digestion and transferring it from the stomach to the brain.
We live most of our lives inside our head, so its important to ensure that we take care to see that it is a nice place to be in.
As Rumi said,
You are your thought, brother, the rest of you is bones and fibre.
If you think of roses, you are a rose garden.
If you think of thorns, you are fuel for the furnace.
We are what we feed ourselves and feed is not just restricted to the food we intake but also the thoughts that we live with in our minds and the kind of people we associate with and the environment we surround ourselves in. In an everchanging and emerging world today dominated by digital and technological interventions in all aspects of our life, it has become increasingly important to be careful about what we read, discuss and debate about, what thoughts we allow to dominate our mind.
Do we ever introspect about what we think?
We must be able to channelize all our negative thoughts to acceptance and become conscious of positive possibilities. We often tend to limit our potential more in our mind even before making any efforts to challenge them.
Begin by firstly stopping the innate desire to please everybody around you, one cannot be loved and liked by all, so don’t be too hard on yourself and try to seek a logical reason.
Throw away the negative thoughts, stay away from toxic people and relationships. Don’t let negative thoughts overpower your self – perception which might in turn impact your attempt to gain excellence. Thoughts have a strong link to our feelings and behaviours. Most of us suffer from the syndrome “I am not good enough”. These thoughts lead to beliefs that keep us from performing at our peak. Creating a more positive outlook can lead to better outcomes. Positive thoughts have magical powers. Optimistic thoughts lead to positive and productive behaviours which increases our chance at success.
Today when I hear this melodious song from the film GUDDI, I can relate to the meaningful lyrics of the song which we sang as a prayer in school;
Humme mann ki shakti dena, mann vijay kare;
Dusro ki jay se pehle, khud ko jay kare.
“Every person’s value is in the thought they hold.”
Suparna's Yugen 