AM I IN CONTROL OF MY MIND OR IS MY MIND IN CONTROL OF ME?

I had kind of a rough night last night. There were several reasons. The first two were the direct result of bad choices I made.


I had a huge Mexican food supper…yep….tamales…which I doctored up with some newly home-made red chile sauce. I am still in learning mode on this whole tamale/chile sauce thing and I got that stuff pretty picante. To tell the truth, it was danged H.O.T.

But it was tasty and I ate way too much of my tamales, rice and refried beans. My belly was stuffed like a thanksgiving turkey..or maybe it was stuffed like a Christmas piñata

That, of course, led to an unquenchable thirst.

Neither my hurting belly nor my over-extended, old-woman bladder causing innumerable trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, contributed much toward a good night’s sleep.

Add to that, a late evening phone call from a hurting loved one with some upsetting news.

I was about to be presented with a prime opportunity to learn if I’ve learned anything at all.

Every trip to the bathroom woke me up just enough for my mind to start going 90 miles an hour.
Every time I laid my head back down on my pillow, I got the opportunity to see just how out of my control my mind can be.

I tried all the methods that usually work to quiet my mind and lead me into a lovely, deep slumber.

I won’t say they didn’t work at all, but it sure did take a lot longer than usual…and had to be done again after every dadgum visit to the bathroom!

My nightly ritual is to count my blessings…just like in that old song.

“When you’re worried and you can’t sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep and you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.”

Usually, that’s exactly what happens…and just that easily, too.

If and when that doesn’t work right away, I do some meditation techniques.

Last night, I even had a hard time doing that. I was made very aware that I have been ‘slacking’ off on meditating on a regular basis. Meditation is the only way I know to learn to be in control of my mind, instead of my mind being in control of me.

This morning, I went into my SKaySpeak archives and re-read “SOMETIMES I JUST GOTTA PREACH” which addresses this very issue.

I know, full well, that every ‘sermon’ I write is one that I need to hear. So, I’ve decided that about every three months, I’m going to re-post that sermon here…just in case some of you also need a little reminder.

Possibly, I might also need to remember to remind myself that too much of a good thing…especially a very spicy supper….is not a good choice!

I am grateful that I recognize that I do have a choice in whether my mind controls me or I control my mind.

I am very, VERY GRATEFUL, for that!