What Did You Do With Jill?Jill Whalen's healthy lifestyle transformation                                               

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Did you know that you have two minds?

If you’re like I was most of my life, you may not be in tune with what’s going on in your head at any given moment. So you may not be aware of your mind’s seemingly split personality. However, if you pay attention, it doesn’t take long to see our two minds in action.

There’s our “ego mind” and our “wisdom mind.”

Our ego mind is filled with fear and is mostly wrong about everything, yet it loudly and proudly proclaims its rightness.

Meanwhile, our wisdom mind is filled with love and sits quietly in the background knowing the real truth, and having the right answers.

In some ways, our split mind is like the proverbial angel and devil on our shoulders.

Here’s the problem…

Most of us hear mainly the ego mind. Which is unfortunate because it’s the one that’s judging, labeling and feeling put upon, while also creating stress and anxiety in our lives. It’s the one that gets up in arms about whatever is happening around us. We think it’s helping and protecting us from getting hurt both physically and mentally, but most of the time it’s not.

Yet, our wisdom mind is always there, waiting in the wings.

And it doesn’t care if we listen to it, believe it, or act upon its guidance. It loves us whether we do or we don’t.

The worst part is that we think the ego mind is US. Which makes us less likely to choose our wisdom mind (if and when we actually hear it).

Regardless, we always DO have a choice.

We can choose to believe and act upon the faulty information provided by our conditioned ego mind (like we usually do), or we can seek guidance from the still small voice within.

Here’s an extreme example of what I’m talking about from a story I heard psychiatrist, Dr. Bill Pettit, tell. He heard of a student who went on a school killing spree. When speaking with a psychiatrist about it after the incident, the young gunman recalled how right before entering the school, he heard a voice inside himself saying, “You don’t have to do this. You can still turn around.” Yet the boy decided (made a choice) to go ahead with his nefarious plan.

If only he had chosen differently.

Thankfully, most of the choices we face in our daily lives aren’t quite as intense. And yet, I’m sure we can all recount plenty of times when we wish we chose differently.

Here are some questions to ponder:

• How often do you override that quiet, helpful voice in your head?
• How many times have you chosen your ego mind over your wisdom mind?
• And at what cost to yourself and others?

Unfortunately, when we don’t hear our wisdom voice of reason, we don’t even recognize that we have a choice.

In other words…

Until we are aware of what goes on in our head, we are a slave to our ego mind.

Without awareness, most of the time our ego is all we notice. Yet when we become more aware, we are able to not only hear our wisdom voice more clearly, but to see through the ego one as well. At which point it just makes less sense to choose ego over wisdom.

For those who want to become more aware, it’s a simple matter of observing our thoughts throughout our day. The other alternative is to let go. Letting go (or letting it be), just means temporarily dropping out of the ego mind. When we do this, it’s so much easier to hear (and choose) our wisdom mind.

The amazing part is that whatever our wisdom mind guides us to do, always feels right. Most of the time it feels amazing! When we choose wisdom, the world changes before our eyes. Our problems dissolve and we’re inspired to take actions that transform whatever situation we’re in. The more we learn to trust our wisdom mind over our ego one, the easier and better life becomes. In fact, we could say that our life becomes a “guided” one.

So which mind are you going to choose today?

–Jill

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Jill Whalen

CONTACT JILL WHALEN to learn how she may help you be the best you can be.

Jill is the author of Victim of Thought: Seeing Through the Illusion of Anxiety

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For the past 20 years, Jill has consulted with companies big and small, and spoken at conferences all over the world. She is currently a transformational speaker and mentor to businesses, individuals, coaches, leaders, groups and organizations. She helps them uncover their natural well-being and happiness so that they can operate from a clearer state of mind and take their lives and businesses to a higher level.

Jill's blog, What Did You Do With Jill? is a personal account of what she's learned throughout her transformational journey. Jill has many "viral" articles on LinkedIn and is a contributing writer for P.S. I Love You.

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