Give me a new mind.

“The two things in life you are in total control over are your attitude and your effort.”

Billy Cox

I spend approximately 6 hours at the gym each week training my body. Training to be strong. Training to be healthy. Training to be in this life for the long haul and kicking ass when I am 80. This is what I do for my physical health. But I’ll admit I slack off on training my mind. Controlling my attitude. Putting in the work for my mental health. Also to be in this life for the long haul and kicking ass. Success is an attitude. Growth is an attitude. Happiness is an attitude. And if we don’t train our minds to control our attitudes, none of that is attainable or sustainable. Just like if we are not physically active, our physical health is not attainable or sustainable. It just isn’t. Simple.

I can tell you from my own experience that training your mind to control your attitude is harder than any amount of push ups at the gym. It takes more strength and perseverance that any physical activity I do. It takes constant reminders. Constant. Like any kind of training that we do, it takes repetitions. And it is so easy to procrastinate and get lazy. So easy to get off track. Because let’s face it, we get knocked down. And the easy road is to wallow in self pity. To judge and gossip. To be angry and bitter. I am so good at all of these things! Way too good. But like anything else, practice is key. I catch myself. I pivot. Train my mind to control my attitude. Find something, anything, to appreciate. No matter how small because the small movements can also get you closer to your goal. And my goal is to be a positive and energetic influence to those around me. I think it’s a good goal.

A friend of mine introduced me to one of my favorite songs last year… ‘Rejoice’ by Steve Angello. There is so much in this song that resonates with me… here is just a little piece of it…

Put your hand on your head and say: Give me a new mind
Give me new mind means give me a new perspective
Give me a new perspective
Give me a new way of looking at my situation
Give me a new way of looking at my circumstances
Get my mind ready for this year
Because when I get this year there’s gonna be blessings
There’s gonna be miracles, there’s gonna to be opportunities
Oh, yes, it’s gonna be some struggles
It’s gonna be some challenges
It’s gonna be some tests
But even the struggles are an opportunity for me to show off
The victory if my mind can handle the change

I play this song for when I forget. When I am slow on the pivot. When I get knocked down.

I put my hand on my head and say ‘Give me a new mind’. And take a deep breath. And pivot.