Have you ever noticed how, once your mind settles on a certain topic, that’s all you seem to notice?
You buy a new red car, and suddenly red cars appear everywhere. It’s not coincidence, it’s the way the mind works.
The Science Behind It
Our brains are designed to notice what we focus on. This effect involves the brain’s reticular activating system (RAS), which filters sensory input so we see what we’ve marked as important. When a thought or theme repeats, it becomes a mental priority.
Neuroscience calls this neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change through repetition. Each time we return to a thought or behavior, we strengthen that pathway; what we neglect weakens. In everyday terms: the mind grows in the direction it looks.
Ancient Wisdom Knew This Too
Long before brain imaging, both Buddhist and Christian teachers described this same truth.
• In the Dvedhāvitakka Sutta (MN 19), the Buddha said:
“Whatever a monk frequently thinks about and considers becomes the inclination of his mind.”
(Majjhima Nikāya, Middle-Length Discourses)
• And in Philippians 4:8, the apostle Paul wrote:
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Across cultures and centuries, the message remains the same: the mind becomes what it repeatedly attends to.
What Happens When We Don’t
When we don’t consciously direct attention, the mind doesn’t rest in stillness, it defaults to habit. Worry, comparison, and self-critique can easily fill the space that mindfulness would otherwise hold.
Neglecting to incline the mind toward what is kind and pure doesn’t make those qualities disappear; it only makes them harder to see. Joy and goodness are not missing from the world, they fade from our perception when our attention drifts elsewhere. To notice them again, we simply need to look.
Two Simple Ways to Steady the Mind Each Day
1. Morning Intention
At the start of your day, name one quality you wish to nurture,
patience, kindness, gratitude. Hold it as a stated intention: “Today I’ll notice where this shows up.” Let that awareness return throughout the day.
2. Pause and Return
Several times a day, stop and ask, “What is my mind doing right now?”
If you find it lost in judgment or tension, breathe once, and gently bring it back to something that reflects truth, goodness, or beauty, a kind word, the warmth of light, a sound of laughter. This isn’t forcing positivity; it’s remembering choice.
Closing Reflection
To incline the mind toward what is lovely is not a luxury, it is a necessary part of living with clarity and care. Both ancient wisdom and modern science remind us that attention shapes experience.
Each time we steady the mind on what is true and good, we participate in the noble work of transformation. We become, thought by thought, the world we most wish to live in.
With love and happiness,
Jan
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