EVERYTHING IS IN THE MIND.

We all keep our toothbrushes in one container in our bathroom at home. My little sister uses the same brush brand as mine but with a different colour (obviously). She had to change her brush because she had used it past three months. Accidentally, she bought the same brand and the same colour as mine. I really scolded her for that blunder because I expected her to know better. On Monday morning, I was lying in bed when she came into the room to pick something. She said something to me but I was so sleepy that I think all I did was nod my head in response to whatever she said. When I was finally well-rested, I woke up and entered the bathroom to take my bath. I stretched out my hand and reached for my brush. I brushed my teeth properly (properly is underlined) and took my shower. I went about the house doing what was expected of me. Later that day when my sister returned from school, I asked her what she came into the room early on to tell me. She said she was informing me that she kept my brush on the cabinet in the bathroom and that the one in the container was hers. Only God knows what was going through my mind but the truth is that my countenance fell the second she ended her statement. It meant that both of us used the same toothbrush that morning. Even though the taste in my mouth had changed, the deed had already been done. As I laid in bed that night, I began to think about what happened and I realized that the mind is an amazing part of the body. I came to the conclusion that the power of the mind is one thing we seem to be underestimating. Everything we do, are or wish to be lies in the power of the mind and our perceptions of these things. My mind had been trained to accept that the toothbrush which I had come to the bathroom everyday to use was mine and using it felt comfortable because I knew it belonged to me. This perception was a part of me and formed part of my everyday routine. Same thing applies to all aspects of life. When we resolve to accept things and situations, they either have a positive or negative effect in our lives. Most of our problems are surmountable, we are only using the power of our minds to declare these things as impossible. How we perceive situations gives our minds feedback and our minds responds per the perception. This means that if for instance you perceive mathematics to be difficult, your mind responds to that perception and the feedback normally would be " I can never understand mathematics" because your mind goes on lockdown when you see or hear about mathematics (except when it has to do with calculating money). The inverse of this is very true. When you perceive something to be achievable, your mind picks up the feedback and feeds you with enough positive energy to see the deed through. If I had not enquired about what happened in the morning, my mind would accept that nothing wrong happened and everything will be normal. In the same vein, if I decided not to write about using my sister's  toothbrush, none of you reading this piece would have known. I could have told it differently and your minds would have no choice but to buy it. That is the power of the mind. It reacts to what we feed it with. ( I believe some of us are disgusted by the mere fact that you can use another person's toothbrush, that is the power of the mind. Some of us are pretending to be disgusted, also the power of the mind. Even some of us see nothing wrong with using another person's brush.). All these scenarios can be attributed to our perception and the power of our minds. Our problems, inadequacies,shortcomings and "disabilities" (not physical) are defined by our perceptions and how we have resolved to think about them. Let us try as much as possible to feed our minds with positive perceptions which would in turn reciprocate positive mental actions that would yield positive and beautiful success. The mind is a powerful tool therefore it gets me thinking whether you are better of or worse of if you knew certain things, this is a different debate altogether. This is because when you come to know something, your approach towards it changes.  In the interim, let us put our minds to achieving great feats because as is often said, "You are what you think!". I almost forgot to tell you that my sister did not also use the toothbrush in the container. She rather used her old one that morning. Therefore, I used a new brush all along. So you see, it is all about perception. I got you. My name is Edwin Oko Lamptey and this is a "mind game" RAT (RANDOM AFRICAN THOUGHT). More at randomafricanthoughts.blogspot.com