Surviving sandstorms is easy.  All you have to do is hunker down and hang on until the storm is over.

Surviving the storms of the mind is an entirely different matter.  The last time I checked the statistics, over eighteen thousand people used guns to commit suicide in the USA in a single year.  When I listen to the news and talk with my patients, it's clear that there's an epidemic of depression sweeping over the land.  Now is a good time to buy stock in drug companies that sell anti-depressant drugs.

People are smoking dope, sniffing cocaine, and taking methamphetamine in record numbers.  Just a few years ago, those same people were happy children without a care in the world.  Even being a baby isn't safe anymore - fetal alcohol syndrome and cocaine babies begin life in a hellish hole.

So what went wrong?

Lots of things went wrong, and nearly all of them are preventable.  We have met the enemy and he is us.

Believe it or not, we are responsible for the storm of thoughts that blow through our mind.  If we want to create violent children, then turn on the TV set and fill their mind with violent images.  Teach them that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflict.   If you want to raise sick people addicted to drugs, then simply dump the garbage in their mind, and watch them self-destruct.  If you want to become depressed, then fill you mind with depressing things.

It really does matter what you put into your mind, and if you want to have healthy happy children, it matters what you allow into their mind as well.

I don't know about you, but I've got my mind made up.  Nobody's going to dump their garbage into my mind.  My brain isn't a dumpster. and nobody's going to fill it with their trash.

There's no room for violence in my mind, and there's no room for dysfunctional thoughts.  There's no room for addiction and no room for depressing thoughts.

My mind belongs to me and I'm going to fill it with good things.  What I put in my mind is important because it becomes the wind that blows there.

Excerpt from :

Maximum Strength Positive Thinking : What to Say When You Talk to Your Mind

David J Abbott M.D.