Change Your Mind

Posted July 1st, 2007

“If you want to be somebody else, If you’re tired of losing battles with yourself, If you want to be somebody else, Change Your Mind.”

Those lines by the band Sister Hazel provide a framework for my thoughts today. Over the past weeks, several people have told me their goals, their desires, and also their failures, their doubts, their fears. I have some UP phrases that I find helpful when I need to change my mind and become a better person.

LOOK UP- The psalmist writes “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from where my help comes.” If I go around all the time with my eyes downcast and my chin down, it is unlikely that I will overcome failure, doubts, and fears. When someone says that I need to do something differently or act differently, my natural reaction is to feel bad, mope around, and ask WHY ME? I need a different perspective. That’s when I know I need to look up, see the world’s still spinning, the birds are singing, and the hills can give me hope. I can examine my behaviors and set my mind to do better.

REACH UP-That’s when I reach up for a higher destination. I evaluate the current state, set a real stretch target, and take necessary actions to fill the gap. Like the song, “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” puts it: To reach the unreachable star; this is my quest to follow that star no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.”

LISTEN UP- There are many voices we can hear-others, ourselves, nature, all the ordinary noises around us, God if we believe in God. In order to hear, we may have to SHUT UP. What kinds of messages are already deeply implanted in us? How difficult is it to shut up voices from the past or the present?

Maybe we’ve heard some of these words that Shel Silverstein put in a poem:

Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child, Listen to the DON’TS, Listen to the SHOULDN’TS, the IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS Listen to the NEVER HAVES, Then listen close to me! Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.

We need to shut up voices that tell us we can’t do something, whether it is our voice or the voices of others. Listen to our hearts and souls and minds-rely on what we hear.

LIGHTEN UP-Most of us have too many possessions, too much baggage, too much clutter. Just as the new year is a good time to do something with all the physical stuff and clutter in our homes, now is a great time to lighten up by dumping the emotional baggage that drags us down. As long as we hold onto and treasure our failures, our grudges, and the harm that others have caused us, we will not change our minds.

When we lighten up, we can RISE UP. I love a verse from the Bible: Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and then run with perseverance the race that is set before us. As we rise up to new heights of achievement by changing our minds, we can begin winning battles with ourselves. And small wins can lead to bigger wins.

And we can do it together. I love the song, “You Raise Me Up.” “You raise me up so I can stand on mountains, you raise me up above the stormy sea; I am strong when I am on your shoulders, you raise me up to more than I can be.”

That indicates we need to LINK UP. The connections we make in life enable us to change our minds and improve as individuals. That in turn improves others with whom we are linked. There’s a proverb that says “a three cord strand is not easily broken.” The support and strength we can receive from one another is a great reason to be part of a supportive group.

Then we need to SHOW UP. Woody Allen said “80% of success is showing up.” That other 20% requires lots of effort, but the initial commitment to show up is the starting point. Walking through a door into a room full of people you don’t know is a brave, but a necessary step in changing one’s mind. Show up every week, and our comfort level increases. When someone takes that step to show up, let’s be UP for them.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2007 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Observations.