Most people never think to filter what enters their mind—yet it shapes almost all of their experience.
One of the greatest things you can do for your mind is to create a filter—to wisely discern what you allow into it.
Just like the filters we use in our homes. We have a kitchen sink filter to catch large bits of food so they don’t clog the drain. Same with a shower—there’s a filter to trap hair. I don’t have that problem, but some of you do.
So why not create a filter for the mind? What is that filter?
It’s discrimination—the ability to discern what uplifts you and what doesn’t. Not only what uplifts you, but also what could potentially impact your mind in a negative way—creating impressions, memories, or unresolved experiences you’ll later have to undo, eradicate, and resolve.
The pathway to my mind has a thorough screening process—think going through security at the airport and being scanned. Guidelines have been established over the years and continuously refined to allow only what is necessary and not harmful to enter. Once these guidelines have been established and enforced over time, you don’t need to consciously implement them each day. They begin to work automatically. That’s one of the beautiful things about the subconscious: if you train it well, it will work on your behalf.
Once something is in your mind, it is harder to get out. Think of a mosquito buzzing and craving for you outside the screen of your window. Once it’s in, it wreaks havoc on you—so much harder to get rid of and a constant nuisance. Like the mosquito, I like to keep many things outside my mind rather than inside, lest they torment me endlessly.
Isn’t it fascinating that people will make the effort to protect what enters their kitchen and shower drain, but not protect against what enters their mind?
We must work to protect our minds, especially in today’s world, where we are constantly bombarded by content everywhere we go. The back of a taxi, in a subway, our phone, computers… How do we do so?
Even prior to establishing filters, we must work diligently to control awareness in the mind, because the first step in allowing something to enter our mind is allowing awareness to engage with it indiscriminately. This is the starting place.
Ask yourself:
Is the music I’m listening to, the books I am reading, the shows I am watching—are they uplifting?
Is it shaping my subconscious in a positive way?
Are the people I spend time with—are they uplifting to me? How do I feel after I spend time with them?
How about the food and drinks I consume? How does it affect my state of mind? Does it make me alert or sluggish?
Be wisely selective about what you allow into your mind, for it profoundly shapes your mental state and the reality you experience. Your mind is sacred. Guard it, care for it, and nurture it with diligence. You use your mind to create the world around and within you. It is your most powerful tool.
If you were one of the top violinists in the world, you would not leave your violin lying around, would you? No. You’d place it in a hard case and care for it, knowing that how well you took care of it influenced how you could use it to create the music you wanted. The mind is no different. It is your tool for manifesting the life you want. You must be conscious of this every moment and look after it with the utmost care.
You live with your mind every moment of your life, and the quality of your mind determines the quality of your life.
Creating filters for your mind—discriminating what you allow in—is one of the most empowering things you can do. And it’s something worth striving for, every single day.
