During my time as a university student I have spent a great deal of time and effort in strengthening not only my mind but also my body. As some of you may know I spend a good deal of time at the gym, sometimes more than I should when it's basketball season. I am constantly trying to make gains by one-upping myself. One more rep, one more pound, one more set. Over the years I think I have gained a certain knowledge about exercising that only comes with experience. One bit of knowledge I have gained is the grand importance of diet. So many underestimate the importance of healthy eating. The mentality is usually "figure out how much weight will kill me then cut it back a little, then drink this stuff." To make significant gains takes time and consistency, neither of which do a whole lot of people want to commit to.
Something more important that I've come to discover is how much our brians work and grow the same way our muscles do. Have you ever worked out so hard you hurt the next day and LOVED IT! I crave that. That's happened to me several times while studying for finals. My mind hurts and I become addicted to studying. The more we study, the more we understand but without consistency, our recollection weakens. Our brain suffers from knowledge atrophy just as our muscles do when we don't use them. "Bigger, stronger, faster" goes along with athlete and genius alike. Both are constantly training what they want to improve whether it be lap time or understanding.
Now something even more important that I am trying to put more emphasis on is what I'm thinking about. It's actually one of my goals right now. My wife has been such a huge example to me of mental conditioning. I know I am a man of few words and don't contribute much to social gatherings but I do have thoughts and questions going through my mind.... most of the time. Felicia has told me on several occasions that when she's not thinking about what she's learning at school, she's thinking about religion. She's not much of a social butterfly either but if you ever get the chance to get inside her head a little you'll find that she doesn't waist any of her hard drive on unimportant garbage. She's not interested in gossip, who was in what movie, types of cars, or who got voted off American Idol. You'll have to ask me if you have any questions of that sort. She can explain to you how a certain disease works, the order of the rainbow, explain the solution to a math problem she hasn't seen in years, tell you what Dr. Chung taught us about a certain something in Human Anatomy two years ago, or explain to you cell biology, which she first learned while reading in the back seat of her parents car on a family vacation at age 9. Her key to remembering.... she's always thinking about it.
While watching again the movie "A Beautiful Mind", one of her favorites, the star of the show explains how he copes with his schizophrenia. He said he has to block out certain thoughts and images. A diet for the mind. It made me think of my patriarticle blessing which says to "raise my thoughts to high levels of spirituality". It will greatly help me control the all aspects of my life. I waist so much time thinking about pointless garbage. The reason I have a high percentage of being able to identify a car solely based on it's headlights glaring in my rearview mirror at night is because I like to study and think about cars. Now to be able to not only live worthy to have the constant companionship of the spirit but to be able to recognize it and heed it's promptings. I will have to strive to raise my thoughts to new heights, ponder what I study in the scriptures, what I learn at church, what is said in conference, and what I hear my wife, family, and leaders ask of me. Elder Neil A. Maxwell once said while talking on faith, patience, and being in control of our lives, "The Lord twice said: 'And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life' (D&C 101: 38, Luke 21:19) Could it be that only when our self-control has become total do we come into true possession of our own souls?" I believe our minds are the key to unlocking many doors and to gaining understanding and control of our lives. We must first be in control of what goes in and what we spend our time thinking about. So I'm on a mind diet.
