mind games

The mind is an amazing playground.  It can be taken anywhere and put through just about everything depending on how well the individual has strengthened it.  Certain people can harbor many personalities based on lies and extensions of their deeper, darker desires while others have the amazing ability to impose what’s in their minds onto weaker individuals.  Some monks are said to be so mentally gifted that they are laid down with soaking wet towels placed over their bodies and after entering a deep trance, are able to heat themselves to the point where the towels on their bodies will emit steam as they become dry. 

The objective of the game of life is to gain as much as you can while still preserving one’s self and maybe even our offspring.  The world is not a nice place and most of us know this to be all too true.  Sometimes we are taken places, mentally, emotionally, and physically that we cannot control.  It’s in these moments, where we are caught off guard, which contributes to our psyche. Once broken down and rebuilt by these events we are forever changed for better or for worse. Those who can’t handle it break down and lose sight of THIS reality and are forced to live in their own.  We call them the crazies.  A rape victim who cannot recover from the acts committed against them is not crazy, simply unable to recover and cope. The individuals who do survive are the forces to be reckoned with.  Once taken to the brink of destruction and uncertainty the mind will change.  The urge to survive is greater, by any means necessary. 

The same is true even with love.  Once the heart is broken the person will recover and hopefully have a greater sense of the situation and be able to come to terms with what has happened and subsequently be able to identify similar situations in the future if not avoid them all together. 

In the realm of business and industry, it is easier for a person who has come from nothing, and worked their way through the ranks to become a success, to lose it all and regain the lost “fortune” simply because they know how to get there with their own ingenuity, will, and determination.  Oppose to the individual who was given the opportunity by way of birth right or by a means where they had to do nothing to gain that position.  Not only will the individual with nothing regain his position, but he will better manage it as well simply because he has seen all aspects of life and will know what the people need and want as consumers. 

This cannot always be true because sometimes the best person to lead may have to be detached from who or what he is leading.  One of my friends is the CEO of an investing firm worth $990 million, and he has told me it is easier to play with other people’s money because he has no emotional attachment to it and admitted that his wife, not him, balances their checkbook because he’s terrible with his own money.  This can be applied to low ranking soldiers and the generals that lead them.   In order to win a battle the general must be ready to lose his men and come to terms with this.  If he is detached it’s easier for him to agree to these terms and see the desired outcome, while a man who was a foot soldier who is now in the lead may sometimes be too compassionate and lose site of the objective at hand.  There is nothing wrong with compassion, but it is in this world a weakness that should only be reserved for the most private settings. 

Having been on the verge of self-destruction myself by way of, drinking, fucking, loving, lusting, and everything that encompasses over indulgence its easier for me to come to terms with the ideals of what makes the mind work and what drives it.  Having voluntarily thrown myself into every extreme and come out “clean” is amazing.  I have found what feeds me so I make sure I get a steady diet of all the right things that keep me going and keep me motivated.  Some of my darkest hours have been brought on by my misdoings and good intentions with bad judgments.  I am my own worst enemy and my mind can handle that. I’m in no way, shape, or form perfect but I liken myself to the word in my own mind and that’s all that matters. If everyone found what makes them tick, and stop whining and crying about whatever injustice has been done to them and use the talents they have and embrace their differences we could all be an unstoppable force in our own right.

What are you bringing to the table of life?  Can we afford to sustain you if you’re taking out more than your putting in, probably not?  But if you take the good, bad, the ugly and make it your own and perpetuate your crafts you will be noticed and take flight beyond your wildest dreams.  The pursuit of happiness.  Bend but never break, lead but never follow, drink never get drunk, smoke but never get high, fuck never get fucked, forgive but never forget.

  No matter what your dream may be and the dark times that may come with pursuing said dream, never forget why you want what you want.  Our gifts are a baby and everything we do to enhance that dream, from working 80 hours a week just to buy art supplies to become the next Vincent van Gogh, all that sacrifice feeds that baby.  Eventually it will grow and be seen and the effort you put into it will be repaid 10 fold. 

Just come to terms with your own demons because if you pretend like they don’t exist, they will eventually take over.  Maintain a constant survival instinct and never get caught with your guard down no matter what the situation.