“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” is an important principle of wisdom.  Your mental habits have made you what you are today; they will keep you the same through tomorrow, unless you deliberately change these habits.  Negative mental habits are responsible for all self-destructive effects of worry, uncontrolled thoughts, racing thoughts, phobias, paranoia, generalized anxiety, and non-biological depression.  Furthermore, negative self-talk, such as regret, shame, self-rejection, and self-loathing, will bruise your spirit (and possibly break it), and will do serious damage that can take years to reverse.  The power to destroy your spirit is in the repetition—the negative patterns or cycles that repeat themselves.  The power is in the pattern.  Change the pattern to a virtuous cycle, and you change the power from one that destroys to one that heals!

Gaining control of your brain will take practice, so don’t expect to succeed after the first few tries.  But you WILL succeed IF you don’t give up!  Your brain WILL eventually submit to you, but your brain will also continue functioning the way you taught it to perform until two things happen:  (1) Your determination leads to enough practice that your brain senses your new desire, and (2) Your practice results in enough repetitions that chemical, physical, and functional change takes place.  Remember that everything you allow into your mind changes your brain and changes how it works.  Practice the behaviors required for a healthy brain, AND protect your brain from negative experiences (inputs that have already created problem areas in our brain).  Focus all your energy into meditating on wisdom, morning and evening, until your bad habits evaporate, and virtuous habits fill your waking hours.  You need not ever again be at the mercy of conflicts, reactions, hurts, or victimhood!  You CAN be mighty in spirit!  You CAN have your mind back, and it can be so much better than before!