Title: |
The relationship between mind-body-spirit. | ||
Author: |
Joe L. Gaskovski | Section: |
General Wellness |
Submitted: |
August 2006 | Expertise base on: |
Experience |
What is ultimately responsible for doing the thinking and the choosing?
The body is what does the doing, the mind is what does the thinking, but the actual choosing of what is to be thought and done belongs to the spirit. It may seem strange to think about the spirit making the choice (not the mind), but it's really not that strange at all. Think of the mind-body-spirit relationship as if it were a car. The body is the physical part of the vehicle and the mind is the wiring and the way in which the individual parts are interconnected (in order that they function correctly). So in this instance your would say that the mind is a higher order function as compared to the physical body. Now in deeper at our car model, and we ask the question "who is actually choosing the direction in which we drive?" The answer of course is the driver, the human person behind the wheel. In the case of the human being, this is analogous to the spirit. Simple so far but full of implications if we dig deeper. So let's dig and take look at the mind-body-spirit relationship from the perspectives of strength, potential and freedom.
The body:
We could consider the body to be strong with some potential but virtually without any substantial freedom. The body is strong because it knows what to do; it is a beautifully designed (or evolved) machine that has the capacity to sustain itself. It has some potential in that it can be strengthened by what we do (exercise) and how we live (eating healthy). But it has virtually no freedom because it cannot choose to change itself (you cannot grow a third arm).
The mind:
We could consider the mind to be reasonably strong with excellent potential and limited freedom. The mind is reasonably strong because as an extension of the body it retains the same characteristics of the body, with a something extra that transforms it from a physical brain into what we call a mind. This transformation is further enhanced by the fact that the mind has great potential in terms of how it works. The fact that we have the capacity for memory is what creates that potential because memory is what stimulates connections between the neurons in our physical brain. These new connections and interconnections are how the mind grows in terms of potential, the more connections it makes, the more potential we have. In terms of freedom, the mind has far more freedom than the body, but it is not totally free. Its freedom is limited to the ability to use those memories and create links and associations between those memories.
The spirit:
This last part is more intricate than the first two. We could consider the spirit (in a physical being) to be weak but with great potential and unlimited freedom. I suggest that the spirit is weak (in the physical being) simply because of the countless people who daily fall victim to or subjugate themselves to imagined fears (self-doubt) or meaningless desires (addictions or bad habits). In spite of this weakness (in physical form) it has great potential in that it is capable of vast change as demonstrated by those many people who have consciously changed the world they live in. And finally it has unlimited freedom in that it (the spirit) and can choose which direction to go. The problem is that most of us relinquish that freedom to either the body or the mind, when in reality it belongs to neither of them. The idea of "freedom to choose" is the rightful domain of every person in the world. Our power and our potential lives within that domain, and it is only when we realize that it belongs to us that we can make a change in our world.
The first hardest part in changing our world for something better is to believe that we are capable of doing it. The second hardest part is to begin doing it. So let's start by first acknowledging that we have the power and the potential, second by having the faith that we will reach our goal, and third by making a plan to move in that direction by taking one small step. We can, and we should, start today.
