"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things." (Philippians 4.8, AMP)During this pandemic it can be tempting to let our minds stray, given all the spare time many of us now have. It's easy to give into conspiracy theories, resentments, and less than other spiritual things. But this is the time to double up on our mental disciplines, because we do not have the resources to get out of dangerous thinking as much as we might be accustomed to.
Generally speaking, people who are successful, which I will define as being a degree above comfortable, are focussed. They stick to one or two concepts and build on them. They study, perfect, sacrifice, and persevere, and above all, they aren't misdirected by an unruly mind and a lazy body.
This is an interesting time where a lot of us don't have the option of balance, so we have to make our own. Regular sleeping schedules, cues to tell our minds and bodies when the second half of the day comes, and relatively healthy eating habits are important to stay on-track, and help us form some sort of routine, but the mind is a bit more tricky to manage.
It's important to be proactive, so that "off" days or moments are not all-consuming. And one of the best ways to groom the mind is to use this time to cultivate something that will nourish it, not decline it. Art, spirituality, science...anything that challenges the mind in a healthy way are suggestions of discipline that takes a lifetime to hone and master, and are therefore wonderful resources during time in isolation.
As our economies are primed for reopening, the time remaining is being offered to us to learn, grow, heal, and inspire. When the mind is trained in a singleness of purpose, what would be a write-off day becomes nothing more than a mild uncomfortable moment, easily surpassed. When we fill our minds with what is lovely and peaceful, we become that.
It is not necessary to feel sadness when we are not mourning; it is rather God's will for us to rejoice daily, with the morning sun that carries us to the evening, and into sleep where we may prepare to start again, refining what makes us alive.
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| Cecile Rancourt |
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