What do I do with a mind like mine?
I’ve talked to enough people that I'd be surprised if we all don't say something like this, at one point or another.
Over time, we come to recognize that there are clear patterns or pathways to the way that our minds seems to work. Some of it is innate. Some of it is conditioned. And, some of it is developed. Either way, the combination often seems to resort to the modality in which it tends to go. Why do I think this thought over and over? Why do I come back to this way of thinking so often? The answer, in part, is that this is a mechanism that provides some type of ease in navigating our perceptions of the world and life.
We think the way we think, largely, because it is easier for us to think that way. Whether by habit, by design or intention, we seem to choose mental routes because they are familiar to us…and, in that way, easier. Sometimes, it may be appropriate to fight those patterns in an effort to develop new ones, especially when the ones that have developed are destructive.
But, aside from those scenarios, perhaps the better use of our effort and energy would be to ask ourselves something closer to, what can I do with my mind that works in this way? Where can I apply it? What use could it be to me beyond the confines of itself?
What could I do with a mind like mine?