I have always been fascinated by the topic of mental saturation. It’s the idea that you can manipulate your own thoughts, perceptions of the world, habits, and inclinations simply by choosing what you consistently expose your mind to.
A friend of mine once complained to me about nightmares she was having. We got talking about the content of her nightmares, and the possible contributors to her nighttime anxiety manifested in the world of her dreams. It didn’t take long for us to stumble into conversation about her love of horror movies.
As I write these words, Superman is staring at me. The original Superman movies were fairly cheesy, but a friend of mine gave me a Superman poster along with a single clip from an old movie reel from the film. I hung it in my office as inspiration to pursue goodness and to do my best at heroically serving others. I swore off horror films long ago.
My friend and I talked about my decision not to watch horror movies. To her, horror films represent the highest form of art. She loves the idea of striving for the most creative and dark forms of gruesome torture. However, as we got talking about the way she routinely saturates her mind with thoughts of malevolence and death, she couldn’t help but agree that she may predispose herself to more vivid nightmares than would be typical for someone who grew up on a farm two hundred years ago.
The fact is, these days we have far more choices about what we will expose our minds to. The world has changed. If you do not consciously adjust the stream of information entering your mind, you put yourself at risk. There is an endless stream of videos, magazines, websites, books, movies, and other mediums that allow me to focus in on any narrow subject I wish.
Two hundred years ago, you didn’t hear about every violent crime that happened. News that traveled across the country was limited to the most crucial bits of information. I, on the other hand, get automatic exposure to statements like, “A woman is violently beaten and raped on the south side of Chicago, plus find out why mold may be deadlier than you think! Stay tuned for all this and more tonight at ten.” It was the ten seconds I accidentally recorded following a television show I like to record at 9 PM.
The news media consistently focuses in on dramatic news. Since dramatic news is generally more negative than all of the positive news they could report, the negative stuff ends up saturating the news channels.
We don’t need to watch horror movies to fill your mind with thoughts of violence and malevolence. In fact, these days you have to make a conscious effort if you choose to saturate your mind with thoughts of hope and inspiration.
It is my personal belief that there is a great value in purposefully cultivating joyful thoughts and emotions in yourself and others. I believe in purposefully adopting hope in the face of hardship. I believe in the pursuit of goodness in all of its forms. I do not believe in bowing to cynicism in the name of “being realistic.” My belief is that we are creators because we have free will and choice, and our responsibility to choose what we create starts in the mind. What kind of habits and inclinations do you want to cultivate in the garden of your mind?
Any of you who have studied my materials, or followed my blog for long, know that joy and positive energy are factors that strongly attract high-quality men into your life. So the goal of pursuing joy through mental saturation is particularly relevant to those seeking better romantic relationship outcomes.
Today I will leave you with just one tip for taking charge of the things that saturate your mind. Make a list of several things you really enjoy in this life. Now take that list and look for ways to tune the various channels of information that flow into your life.
For example, you could drop your magazine subscription to “People,” with its constant stream of good-looking people and gossip, and switch it over to some kind of travel magazine that saturates your mind with pictures of beautiful places that lower your blood pressure just by looking at them. If you really love gossip magazines about celebrities, I’m not trying to control your choices there. It’s just an example to show you how to put the concept into action.
There are literally hundreds of methods for making small changes to your environment and routines that lead to a mental saturation of the sort that you would choose, if you had purposefully engineered your life with this concept in mind from the start. Share your own ideas for positive mental saturation for others to borrow. Leave your ideas in the comments section below.
I’ve been mentally saturating my brain with your posts! Thanks so much!
😀
I ride my bicycle for miles. I love the outdoors. I also program my mind with music that inspires me or makes me happy. Gratefulness is also huge in keeping a positive perspective for me.
Thank you for the encouragement!
Thank you for providing text for reading. Videos are blocked on my machine and I find your information thought provoking and helpful, only available for me in print form.
Hi James. Your words and ideas really enspired me. I always use to push men to know how they feeling, but lately I have been taking things one day at a time, and be more thankful towards my man, amazing how different I feel in my relationship I am no longer desperate or lonely I feel relaxed and happy.
Thank you very much.
have a super weekend.
That makes me happy. Thanks for sharing this.
When he feels safe he will talk to you…..just wait and listen.
Thanks for your excellent work, James. This blog was as helpful as all your others. I try to always adopt at least one little thing you suggest to improve the quality of my life. Thanks again!
Hi James, Thank you for this post. It’s inspired me to Tex a Joke a day to my family , friends and work mates. I used to do this quite often but got my self in to rut and stopped doing it. The response I used to get was great! It made other people laugh, even if for only a moment. The jokes I used to get back I would pass them on to all others and so the circle would go on. Two make someone smile, ends up putting a smile on your own face…
I really like that, Tesia. I’m glad to hear you are applying the idea in a broader context.
James
I like Pat Firth’s comments among others generously submitted. Thank you for helping us towards more joy in our lives.
My positive thing is something that was instill in me as a youngchild by my mother. Thinking positively has become more of an unconscious event, than not. I’m not a person who can sustain usually more than 3 to 4 daysof sadness before I feel extreme depression. It is imperative that I accept my reality of the very thing that caused the sadness or unhappiness. My body yearns for joy & happiness like oxygen. My survival depends on it. People often wonder how I’m most always genuinely happy, upbeat, energetic, joyous & always smiling. It’s as simple as a choice. I choose to be happy, regardless of the situations around me. Many people are attracted to me on that basis alone, especially men. I tend to have very good if not excellent relationships with men. I also naturally just know how to speak/talk to men. I tend not to let my emotions lead me, I keep them in check and under control.
You said it best. One has to see the root of the cause and accept it in order to clearly go forward. And survival depends upon joy and happiness that we make ourselves…from our gratitude for life itself.
Sort of you have to know and learn from where you have been to get to where you are going.
Thank you James for this inspiring blog. Making little positive changes every day makes a huge difference to wellbeing. After reading your message I have decided to spend more time stopping and sitting in places we have created in our home rather than speedily walking past them every day “doing important jobs”. I will put an extract of your words on my twitter account. Thank you.
Interesting im a happy person
Helping others (even if I don’t know them…sending a few bucks to help animals or the homeless vets) makes me feel good. If I’m really in a bad mood (which thank goodness is rare) I look in the mirror and make a face to make myself laugh. Soon I’m in hysterics and no more bad mood.
If I’m ever feeling down, I make it a point to take the focus off me and onto others. Anytime I help others, it brings me joy and brightens my day. I’ve been teaching fitness classes for over 10 years, and a month ago started my own Zumba class. It is filled with fun and laughter and brings such positive energy, even for only an hour! Thank you James for your words of inspiration!
Hi James,
Just to affirm how excellent this blog post is I want to share with you a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A man is what he thinks about all day.” Your blog post puts real flesh on this great thinker’s observation.
Every day I prime my mind too positive thoughts by doing a thankfulness practice where I write down three things that at that very moment make me feel very grateful or happy for some reason. I also write down the emotion that comes up for me when I contemplate these reasons that I’m grateful. And I sit in that emotion for a few minutes and let it really sink in. Letting myself feel that emotion has made such a difference in my life. I generally start off my day feeling very positive and grateful to be alive.
Good stuff. Thanks!
Yup! There is that computer/techno saying “Garbage in……garbage out!”…… Train your brain to compartmentalize difficult thoughts to a limited place in the mind. Then go about your business focusing with your grateful list in the forefront of your thoughts. Contemplate the good in your life, or examine the positive changes that await using creative thoughts and action………Refer to the bad only when necessary. Best to keep a good balance………..can’t eliminate ALL the bad……carry on utilizing your internal, energy compass gathering input from conscious, joyful interactions through the day,……… and turn off the news and trash shows! lol
I always enjoy James Bauer and the energy that he feeds us. I like how he gives wisdom with grace and it is all truth.
Think on things that are just lovely and pure. Change your thoughts and this will change your environment.
Thank you, James. You are the best!! I Your input on this topic is right on! And just yesterday, I was reminding myself, (when I was feeling down) that I have made a decision to choose joy as my default emotion. Do you have any more input on how to do this? Your e-mails and your programs are so helpful. Thanks!
I really appreciate your encouraging words.
I really liked this message. I remember when I was young my mum hung inspiring pictures such as of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Caption Cook etc for our mental saturation and also to make us think like of their achievements in life. I think she idid this to help us be inspired to educate ourselves and become someone like them in life.
It is so important that we choose to identify facts from the little stories we tell ourselves. Without knowing, we direct our paths toward fear, which often cripples our ability to realign to reality. Freedom is found in truth!
When I need to motivate myself to be more positive, stop worrying, etc, I post simple notes around my home and read them at each encounter. I always experience a change of attitude. The length of time that the notes remain depends on how ingrained the thoughts are. Reminding myself to have an attitude of gratitude keeps me grounded.
I keep little notes on my bathroom mirror and i try to get a 30 second hug before i leave for work. Both to boost my self esteem
I have the radio on at home, dance to the music. Turn up my favourite songs and sing along. Alone in my own space without anyone watching! Plus now I have the music on at work (recovery in theatre) and my team mates and I, even one of the doctors often sing. And on fb I get “positive quotes” as posts daily.