It’s not that we don’t know what we need to do or avoid doing. Yet, there are times our mind just doesn’t co-operate with us. And this can get very frustrating. After all, it is our own mind, not someone else’s mind we seek co-operation from. This can leave us agitated and confused and looking back we can see our life as phases of dynamic action and dullness.

Our mind is an equipment we possess. It has its own characteristics and responds favourably when managed correctly. Managing our lives, to a large extent comes down to managing our mind.

Our mind needs an inspiring direction and goal. The mind is like a student in a classroom. If the subject is interesting and the teacher is good, the student pays attention and enjoys the class. But if the class does not motivate the student, he stops listening and his thoughts drift away, even as the class is going on.

It needs relaxation. A tired mind is a compromised mind. In our zeal to achieve much, we forget that the mind needs its share of recreation and relaxation. No matter how busy our day is and how challenging the situation may be, we need to nourish and refresh our mind every day.

It needs creativity. Like a small child, the mind will quickly get bored with a routine. We need to mix things up a bit. How often have we started exercising with enthusiasm and promised ourselves that we will be consistent, only to find we’ve let ourselves down, not because we forgot the merit of exercising, we stopped enjoying the same routine day in and day out.

It sometimes needs a sense of duty. When we are gripped with responsibility and don’t give ourselves a choice of running away, the mind co-operates.

The trick is in reminding ourselves about the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ we are doing, giving the mind an incentive worth working for. When an athlete reminds himself of the medal waiting to be won, every day of rigour and training becomes enjoyable. The mind wants to co-operate because it is charged up with the prize that can be achieved.

And in spite of best efforts when the inner storm of emotions is just too strong, like a good captain, we need to turn the ship one degree at a time. Consistent self-application, gaining mastery over our mind step by step is the way. And when we have gained the inner ability and control over our mind, no challenge will seem too big. Because we have overcome the biggest challenge in life – getting the mind to co-operate with us.

(Picture – Hall in The Art Institute of Chicago where Swami Vivekananda addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893)