With a brain whose capacity is largely
untapped, human beings have a potential to be and to create which far
exceeds current expectations. Instead of seeing the unused portion
of our brain as a sort of insult, perhaps we could see it as a
challenge. Each of us has this potential and this 'challenge' within
us and each of us has unique access to a brain of almost limitless
capabilities. Unfortunately, our surroundings and traditions tend to
encourage stagnation instead of growth. But what if we decided to
change that? What if we started on a journey of discovery within
ourselves to find the key to the potential within us?
According to the current scientific
research, our brain functions on electrical impulses triggered both
by stimulus from without and stimulus from within. The stimulus
without consists of the people, events and circumstances of our
lives. Things happen to us, and our mind is given messages through
the various senses which it then processes and stores for future use.
Stimulus from within might consist of messages of pain from an
organ, automatic messages from various parts of the body to perform
normal body functions, messages from hormones, messages from the food
we eat, messages from the brain itself in the form of thoughts and
those less understood but just as real messages and effects of
emotions. Together, these make up some of the things with which the
brain has to do. It is a vast and complex system of signals and
impulses whose workings are only slightly understood by the most
advanced scientists.
However, each of us is in a unique
position. We each have a brain of our own whose capacity is barely
touched. We live each day in a relatively mundane and repetitious
life of working, playing, eating, and sleeping. It's like having a
super-computer and only using it to play solitaire. But, what I am
suggesting is that perhaps it is the mind itself that holds the key
to understanding and using it's potential and that each of us could
be the keeper and director of that key in the quest for a better
life. With each passing day, I realize that there are many things I
do not understand and cannot do. I look at my life and ask myself
how I can make it better.
Much I have read lately has pointed to
the fact that the mind is capable of much more than we give it credit
for. And, although scientists are actively seeking the secret to
harnessing that capacity, I believe that the ultimate discovery can
only rest with the individual who has patiently sought to discover
how his own mind works. No two people are alike, and even if science
could tell us how everything works, we would still have to learn to
practice it.
However, if we are only using our
amazing minds for mundane tasks, how can we make the quantum leap to
increased mental capacity and use? Well, I think that the mind is
capable of even that, if we give it the opportunity; if we take the
challenge. Experimentation and discovery lie within and with
ourselves not without and with a scientist. As a musician, I was
taught to 'allow' my mind to do what it knew how to do without my ego
getting in the way. Education, like the ego of a musician, often
seeks to 'make' the mind do what it already knows how to do. I think
it's time we 'allowed' our minds to function in the way they were
intended. I believe that the mind was intended to function at it's
full capacity and to do things that we have not yet even considered.
Think of it! We do not even know what
the mind of man is capable of. The possibilities could be endless!
It is a frontier like no other and the door to it is within the grasp
of every individual. So...what are we waiting for?
