Changing Your Mind

RL04-06-2016I’m a firm believer that you can change your life when you change your mind. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have. We have the ability to accumulate information and then utilize that information to make a decision.

I am saddened to encounter people who came in contact with some information many years ago and made up their minds about something to an extent they are not open to more information. You should always be accumulating new facts and more information and continually challenging past beliefs.

C. S. Lewis said, “Every conversion begins with blessed defeat.” There was a time when the smartest people in the world, utilizing the best information of the day, were convinced that the world was flat. They staunchly held this belief for many years, but thankfully some enlightened individuals were willing to risk the scorn and ridicule of others as they gained more information and changed their minds.

While there is virtue in holding a consistent belief over a long period of time, there is more virtue in challenging your beliefs, being willing to change, and therefore, being right. Whether it’s the flat earth, economic views, or political beliefs, we advance when we re-examine and challenge past thoughts in the light of new information.

The most important beliefs we hold are those things we believe about ourselves. The history books are full of slaves who became kings, paupers who became wealthy, and timid souls who became great leaders who changed the world. These individuals did not change their world view until they changed their internal view.

I read a story once about an eaglet that somehow got mixed in with a group of baby ducks. The eaglet grew and learned about the world around him from the perspective of a duck. This continued until the day the eaglet looked far up into the sky and saw a full-grown bald eagle soaring majestically on the wind. The eaglet no longer saw himself as a duck and lived out the rest of his life as an eagle. The world around him had not changed, but he caught a new vision of who he was and who he could be.

I would challenge you to examine every area of the life you are living now, and determine whether you need to change your mind about who you are and become who you were meant to be.

As you go through your day today, remember you can change your life when you change your mind.

Today’s the day!

Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network, as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker.  He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK  74145-9082; by email at Jim@JimStovall.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stovallauthor; or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimstovallauthor.

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