I’m sure you all have heard the phrase that our mind is like a sponge; especially when we’re little kids.
You see, when we’re born our mind is a fresh new sponge ready to soak everything in. It’s thirsty to learn and it will pick up everything from its environment.
But here’s the thing, the sponge really has no control over what it picks up. It’s dependent on its surroundings. Sometimes a sponge can be used to wash a barely dirty dish, but other times a sponge is used to wash a huge pile of filthy and greasy pots and pans.
Eventually after consistent exposure to various elements the once thirsty pores and crevices of the sponge become full and they start to hold on to those various elements.
Do you see where I’m going here?
A lot of us have been carrying around certain elements in our mind since we were little kids. And it’s not our fault because we were simply sponges soaking in whatever the circumstances that we were exposed to.
But we’ve held on to some of these elements for so long that we started perceiving them as our truths. Emphasis on the word “perceive” because there are plenty of times that what we may see as our truth is in fact very far from the actual reality.
The beautiful thing is that our mind is resilient. And just like having to clean a dirty sponge, it may not be easy. But eventually if we keep rinsing the sponge and exposing it to new cleansing elements those dry and dirty pores soon start to release some of that dirt and they become free again.
Now, the sponge may never become perfectly clean as it once was, but we’re not looking for perfection. We’re looking for progress. Progress is what counts.
So we may not have had control over what we were exposed to in the past, but have not doubt that we absolutely have control over what we decide to do now. So if you have been carrying some unwanted elements in your mind, now is the time to start rinsing that sponge!
And if you guys are parents or role models to little children, please keep this in mind. Be conscious about what you say and do when you’re around them. You will be very surprised with the amount of information that they consciously and subconsciously absorb without you even realizing it.