Positive Attitude for a Healthy Mind

I once heard someone say, “a healthy mind is more important than a healthy body.” At first, I didn’t believe that. A healthy body is of utmost importance. Properly functioning organs and an illness-free body are key to a fruitful life.

Looking around me, I realized that a lot of importance has been placed on the body. For the body, we have medicine, nourishing creams, workout plans, and much more. There are more than fifty professions that deal with the body. However, for the mind, there are just two: psychology and psychiatry.

What about the mind?

In the past, mental health has not been openly or widely addressed. Any disease that did not present physical markers on one’s body was not considered an actual injury. For example, how does the “tumor” of depression look like? If a doctor can’t see it, how are they supposed to treat it? With a lack of physical illness, the awareness and importance of mental health were not pronounced. Without a visible disease to pinpoint, there was no way to address it as an issue.

Over time, awareness surrounding mental health has grown. Ranging from medicine to our legal system, people have recognized the impact that mental illness can have on an individual’s capacity to make decisions, self-control, and, ultimately, quality of life.

As odd as it may sound, invisible things are often more important than visible things. Let’s take a practical example — a building. We can see the physical structure — doors, windows, floors, rooftop. However, we can’t see the invisible foundation upon which the building rests. Yet, this invisible foundation is the most important as it grounds the building.

The physical, visible diseases are seen through body scars, tumors, etc. However, the health of the mind is invisible.

One key to ensuring a healthy mind is a positive attitude…

Once, Charlie Chaplin saw a board with a poster titled “Look-Alike Charlie Chaplin Competition.” Intrigued by such a competition, he decided to participate in this competition. To his utter shock and horror, he came #7. The REAL Charlie Chaplin lost the look-alike Charlie Chaplin competition. In his memoirs, he wrote, “We live in a world where showmen succeed, and real men fail. I realized that though they (the competitors) could match my looks and my moves, none could match my mind and my attitude.”

Charlie Chaplin taught us a vital lesson through that incident — your mind and attitude are your personal belongings. Your mind and attitude form your identity. Even in testing times, having a positive attitude creates a positive outlook on life, strengthens your faith, and equips you with the power to face the world.

When thinking of the words “positive attitude,” the first person that comes to mind is His Holiness Yogiji Maharaj, the fourth successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. The life of Yogiji Maharaj reveals his transparent and profound divinity. His sacrifices, unflagging spirit to serve, fathomless love for God, and his radiant, inexhaustible joy — all define him as more than human. To take but a leaf from his life of sacrifice, Yogiji Maharaj was charged with a positive attitude. Even in the most unfavorable and conflicting situations, he remained optimistic, undisturbed, and happy.

The Miracle!

Yogiji Maharaj was in the village of Maliya Hatina in Gujarat, India. He had a strong desire to visit the auspicious mango grove where his guru had once watered 300 mango trees. Accompanied by two individuals, Yogiji Maharaj mounted a horse-drawn carriage. While they were going along, the wheel of the wagon suddenly broke. The carriage swayed and reeled over. Everyone inside bumped and fell over each other. Bruised and hurt, the three managed to come out of the transport. Yogiji Maharaj, dusting the sand and dirt off his clothes, humorously stated, “A miracle has happened, isn’t that so?”

His companion asked, “Oh, what miracle?”

Yogiji Maharaj replied, “We are saved! We’re not hurt!” On these words, everyone broke out laughing.

Defusing the most painful and vexing circumstances with light-heartedness was a hallmark of Yogiji Maharaj. He was always optimistic about whatever happened, and coming out alive from the accident was a matter of joy for him even though he was hurt. From this incident, we can see that it is easy to get caught up in the negatives of a situation. A sneeze can lead one to think of the worst — the flu, pneumonia, or even possibly death. While maintaining a positive attitude is extremely difficult, it helps keep your mind healthy. Positive thoughts and emotions can help one develop a healthy mind — which ultimately will transfer positivity throughout one’s body.

What next?

There are several ways to practice maintaining a positive attitude, a few of which are:

• Give yourself credit — when things go wrong, we tend to concentrate on the mistakes we made. Rather, allow yourself to feel confident about the things that you’ve accomplished.
• Be grateful — no matter how bad things get, remember that they could be worse.
• Learn from the past — while our past is behind us, it can teach us a lot. Reflecting on the past to learn can help you avoid mistakes in the future.
• Use positive words while talking — replace “I can’t” with “I can do this.”
• Forgive yourself — rather than continually beating yourself up for the thing that has gone wrong, forgive yourself so that you can move on.
• Ultimately, the health of our mind is in our hands. We get to choose how we train our minds to react, even in the most adverse situations. So, while it is easier to adopt a more cynical view, why not think positively? It may be challenging, but it isn’t impossible.

Maitree Patel, Ontario (Canada)
Law Student