Mental concepts are the building blocks in our mental structure of the mind. Whereas passing thoughts are experienced as temporary flashes of thought of various degrees of importance, enduring concepts are vital to our mental fitness and are capable of powerfully influencing our lives.
Ideas and concepts are as seeds, dropped into the fertile soil of the brain. Some take root and grow and blossom, bearing fruit eventually if tended and cultivated in a fertile and imaginative mind capable of producing productive, healthy thoughts.
There are many concepts freely given to us from infancy. Some of them have the chance to take root and flourish, depending upon many factors both from our choices as well as from outside circumstances.
In the years of early education we are usually bombarded with seed ideas and concepts in such abundance that there is no way we can expect them all to grow. We must be selective if we wish for health and mental fitness. Tending our minds must include weeding out the unwanted. As with any gardening cultivation, this is a demanding and ongoing process.
However, when we are young it is imperative to determine the seed concepts that we find attractive and are willing to nurture to fruition. We have to find our own values, in other words, and remain true to them for our health and mental fitness.
As we mature we must not be satisfied with concepts that have been given us, as we tend to do in our domestic gardens when we take seeds or cuttings and plant those given to us. We must select a seed idea of our own, water it with attention and affection, nourish it with persuasion and, as it grows to blossom, stand back to watch it take shape in our chosen garden of our mind.
If you have nurtured a concept in your mind that is not bearing quality fruit of this kind, it is time to pull it out, and replace it with a better, healthier one.
However, be assured that we have cultivated healthy seed concepts if the result shows us to be strong in principle, vitally interested in life, capable of being involved in creative thought and able to experience peace and contentment.
Sally Janssen’s wonderful book Mental Fitness: A Simple Self-help Guide, offers simple and timely solutions. Read more…
Mail this post
