M Is For Mindset

They say that it is the perogative of a woman to change her mind. I think that is sexist. I think that all of us need, from time to time, to change our minds. Certainly, we sometimes need to change our mindset.

What's a mindset? Break the word down. Well, it might make more sense if you reverse the parts first, then break it down: setmind.

For such a short word, set is pretty complicated. It means, among other things, (1) n. mental inclination, tendency, or habit : bent (2) n. a state of psychological preparedness to perceive or respond to an anticipated stimulus or situation.

Mind is – well, in order to spare you an over-dose of complication, let's just say the mind is the thinker.
No, no, not Rodin's statue!

The mind is that with which you think. Or, if you insist on complicating matters, the mind is the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons.

Put them together and you have – a headache? No. You have “a mental inclination, tendency or habit” to feel, perceive, think, will and especially reason in a particular way. Or you have a “state of psychological preparedness to perceive or respond to an anticipated stimulus of situation” that leads you to feel, perceive, think, will and reason in a particular way.

In other words, your mindset determines not only how you perceive things but also how you react or respond to that which you perceive. This can have a profound effect on the way you view the world at large and your life in paticular.

Swami Beyondananda tells us, “There are two kinds of mystics in the world -- the optimystics, and the pessimystics. The pessimystics are telling us, ‘The sky is falling!’ The optimystics say, ‘No, it only looks that way because we are ascending.’”

Optimism and pessimism are mindsets. Optimism can be like a hot-air balloon that lifts you up above the everyday cares and woes of life. Pessimism can be like an anchor that can hold you in one place if you're safely aboard a boat or pull you down into the depths of despair if you happen to be treading water.

The good news is that you can change your mindset. How? P.J. McClure, http://themindsetmaven.com , identifies six elements of mindset:

Purpose – the “why” of what you do. What are you doing it for?
Belief – you can't accomplish anything until your believe that you can.
Vision – provides the clarity to recognize opportunities
Gratitude – being grateful for what you have attunes you to your belief and vision
Forgiveness – exposes and casts off the anchors of resentment, guilt and indecision
Action – you can “mindtrip” all you want, but nothing happens unless you take action

Look at it this way:

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium's
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do just when everything looked so dark?

(Man, they said "We'd better accentuate the positive")
("Eliminate the negative")
("And latch on to the affirmative")
Don't mess with Mister In-Between (No!)
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

(Ya got to spread joy up to the maximum)
(Bring gloom down to the minimum)
(Have faith or pandemonium's)
(Liable to walk upon the scene)

You got to ac (yes, yes) -cent-tchu-ate the positive
Eliminate (yes, yes) the negative
And latch (yes, yes) on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, don't mess with Mister In-Between.