Saturday, November 12, 2016

Knowledge Is Power? - Not Quite

I often hear the phrase 'knowledge is power', and it always gets me thinking critically.  If knowledge is power, then is a book powerful all by itself?  A book simply contains information and is not powerful at all.  Understanding the words in the book and using them in a constructive way, that is where the power comes from.  Knowledge is not power, wisdom is.

A bodybuilder can use their physical strength to lift heavy objects that an average person may not be able to, but their strength had to be built up before they could do so.  Our mental strength is very similar to this in nature; we need to build upon our strength in order to be a 'mental bodybuilder'.  A healthy body is more resilient when injuries occur, and a healthy mind is as well.  Check your mental health regularly and if you do not feel healthy, do something about it.

Turn your knowledge into wisdom if you want to build up your mental strength and resiliency.  I have no doubt that you know many things, but what do you understand about all of those things that you know?  You may read a good quote from an important person from our past and be able to reiterate the words to others, but do you really understand what the words mean?  Understanding the words and critically thinking about them will gain you the wisdom that they represent.

I love to read quotes, some of them simply make sense, while others make you think.  If you need some mental exercise to start building your inner strength, this is a great place to start.  Don't just read something like "I think therefore I am" and commit it to memory, ask yourself what it means to you. Does it simply mean that I exist because I think, or does it mean the material world is an illusion and all that matters it the fact that we can think?  These types of questions will lead you to a deeper understanding and meaning.  You are becoming wiser every time you explore questions like these.

Wisdom is power and the more you explore knowledge, the stronger and wiser you become.  Don't simply take words verbatim just because someone 'important' said them, find out for yourself why they are so profound in the first place.  Start exercising your mind just like we would do for our bodies.  Become more resilient for when the 'low' times happen because they will,  How we face those low times depends on the strength we have.

Every time you suffer through more mental hardships, you have the chance to make yourself stronger. Learn from all of your experiences through reflection and turn those hard times and experiences into mind-building tools.  The best part is that the stronger your mental muscles become the easier it is to take control of your mind and your thoughts, as opposed to you being controlled by them on a daily basis.  Build mental strength and take control of your own life and perceptions.

Once you have better control of your mind you will be able to direct the thought processes to more positive paths.  Right now your mind could be feeling dragged down causing depression and anxiety, but with more mental exercise and critical thinking, you will be able to pull yourself out back from being dragged and push forward to thought processes you would prefer.

The new generation needs to be taught how to deal with information overload.  This generation downloads so much information each day and many are not able to process all of it.  This is where many of the current mental health issues are coming from in droves.  Start turning that knowledge into wisdom and begin to clear your mind.  Otherwise it will take over and control you.

Start training your mind to ask more questions.  Questions build strength and resolve unprocessed thoughts.  Unprocessed thoughts are what is causing your overthinking.  Build your strength, better control your thinking, and calm your mind.  Calm your mind and start choosing the thoughts you would prefer to think about, rather than being plagued by those you would rather not.

This is not about controlling the mind, it is about taking better control of it so it does not control you.

Be Well and have nice weekend!

No comments:

Post a Comment