We ended the last article by asking the question: “Are there other things going on in our minds besides simply emotional and rational thoughts?” And the answer is “Yes, there are.” I call it the functioning or malfunctioning of our minds.
A Probable Source for the Malfunctioning of Our Minds
When our minds malfunction, negative emotions can be the culprit. They can grab control of our rational thoughts and we end up under the control of our feelings and subject to thinking irrationally.
The culprit can also be that our desires are overriding our rational thoughts. Or it could be our lack of willingness to admit that we are wrong in our opinions or beliefs. In other words, our emotions and our reason are locked in a tug of war, and emotions are winning. Even the most educated and brilliant mind can be guilty of this malfunction.
Destructive Emotions Produce Malfunctions
Malfunctioning will happen when we entertain destructive emotions. Destructive emotions are the ones that, for example, attack our needed sense of self-worth or damage others for no good reason, such as revenge or a long-standing grudge.
The mind/brain was made to function, not malfunction. And just plain negative thoughts can result in damage to the brain caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters. Malfunctioning can create a person we don’t want to be — especially malfunctions caused by damaging thought patterns that have been ingrained by consistent negativity.
What Happens In Our Minds Is to Blame for Malfunctioning of Our Minds
So you see, what happens in our minds can change our world from good to bad. And we can have no one else to blame for the malfunction. There is a moral factor to all we think. What we think is either helpful or not, damaging or not, good or bad. Morals and ethics have a profound effect on our mind/brain. Our morals form into values and strongly held beliefs. When we lose our sense of integrity, it often is because we have violated those values and beliefs. A life without values and moral standards is a fractured compass.
The Role of Our Beliefs
Our beliefs are often a clear decision between what is good or not. Religion guides our path while, at the same time, helping to fashion our lives for good. Take the well-known words of Jesus, “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” and the need for such standards for behavior should become clear. We cannot escape the difference between right and wrong no matter how much we try to obscure its meaning in life. Our belief about right and wrong also aids in keeping our minds functioning in the healthiest of fashions, thus keeping us from malfunctioning.
Next: We will think of the examples of anger and rage and their moral nature as we explore more on the functioning and malfunctioning of the world of our minds. In the meantime, ponder the thought, “We are what we think.”
In my new book Who Am I?, I describe how we have become “crooked thinkers” and how to break out of this prison of the mind to become instruments of change for a better world by recognizing the source of our value as humans. You can get your copy HERE. (Psst! Subscribers to my weekly updates can receive a 15% discount and free shipping from the above link!)
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