If I Were Me
The old saying is "If I were you..." right? It means, if I was in your body, in your position, in your life, this is what I would do. Well I was thinking, sometimes I look at myself in third person and realize I could be doing something way better than what I'm doing. I look at myself and think, "If I were you..." Crazy huh?
Maybe not so crazy if you believe there is more than one part to a person. Personally I believe there is me and there is my mind and my body. My body does what it was build to do, flex, move, digest and so on. My mind does what it is in the habit of doing, worrying, thinking, analyzing, being efficient, judging others, interpreting situations, and so on. Me however, that's the tricky one. I, me, my, spirit, soul, inside, subconcious, higher self, buddha nature, this is something else entirely if it exists at all. My mind judges someone, but my soul just sees them. My brain tells me to do something, but my higher self tells me there is a better way. My mind is afraid, my spirit is excited. One sees the way the world is, the other is constantly seeing the world in a new way. Basically my mind is limited by itself, but I am limited by nothing.
I say all this because I have found it very helpful to retrain myself, to meditate, to reflect, to take in new information, to read, to write, to open up my mind to the possibility that I can and should learn new ways, seek advice and wisdom from amazing people, and never stop exploring what I could be. Life takes on a new meaning to me at that point, it is no longer about meeting basic needs (pleasure, pain) or even perceived needs (pride, wealth, power) but instead my life takes on the more difficult and much more important needs of the world (something much larger than my body or mind). When I decide to focus myself on that greater good, I become more like a captain with a good boat (body), a good crew (mind) and a good direction (spirit). If I were me, I'd give it a thought or two.