I quote, therefore I think: No more mind games

** This is my 100th post on riturao.com! **

Elizabeth Gilbert says we need to give our mind a job to do, or else it will find a job to do, and you might not like the job it invents.

I like a lot of what Gilbert has to say.

She said these particular words in the context of a dog metaphor; more specifically, likening the mind to a border collie. I’ve never owned a border collie, but the all-too-familiar idea of a go-go-go inner critic yapped right home.

When Liz (yes, we’re on first-name basis in my head) talks about actively destroying something, she refers to herself, a relationship or her peace of mind.

If your mind tends to default to a lower state—anxiety, negative thoughts, constant worry—then giving it a “job” is an effective way to keep it occupied with better things.

It’s a reminder that we have the choice, the control and the power to channel or change what we think about, rather than be enslaved by its every whim.

Actively creating something is not simply an ode to being an artist. In everyday, practical terms, it’s being conscious and intentional.

How often does your mind jump on the negative train that only stops in the dark, seedy parts of your brain-town, causing panic or stress?

If it’s something that you’d rather stop doing (please say yes), then your first instinct might be to command your willpower to simply stop. Or you might try shaming it, pleading with it, or bargaining with it.

We all know how that goes.

A more effective way is to turn your attention to something better to replace it with.

If you’re actively creating something—aiming for something that helps you build up, expand, move forward—then you won’t have much attention to spare toward that which destroys you; your peace of mind, your sense of possibility, your hope, your optimism, your faith in yourself.

Is this a kind of an escape, a way to forget about yourself? Absolutely.

But if the self you come back to has shifted forward, then I’d say it’s worth it.