Motivation & Mind

It’s great to be in a position where you want to understand something. This is a situation in which two great things are happening for you. First something is shimmering for you and catching your attention. Second you are motivated to get your mind around it – to create an understanding. You now have energy to move and a clear direction in which to move. How wonderful is that?

Motivation is usually hooked up to something deep inside, something beyond the mind, because if you think about it is not a sensible thing. Motivation can bring you into situations that to the mind may seem impossible.  Yet all the motivation in the world will not get you moving – for that you need mind. Mind is capable of creating movement – it can use senses to create movement inwards (smell, touch, sight, etc.) and it can express itself and create outwards movement (speech, motion, etc.).

This is a charged situation. Motivation wants to move towards some shimmering thing and it depends on mind to do it. Mind is facing what may look like an impossible direction (completely irrelevant to more important survival duties with it is charged) and is compelled to move towards it by motivation. Because this relationship carries a tension it can be useful to remember who is in charge of what – otherwise the relationship gets messed up. Motivation is responsible for choosing which way to go. Mind is responsible for going there.

This understanding comes in handy when perceptions gets clouded, and if you are driven by motivation then it is very likely that you will encounter cloudy perception. Movement towards something shimmering is not a straight path, it is a twisted and challenging path. Your mind will constantly issue progress updates. At times, when the mind feels that it is clearly moving in the “right” direction, it feels it is aligned with motivation and it will send reassuring thoughts. At other times it may feel like it’s moving in the “wrong” direction and it will send distressing thoughts.

When you encounter distressing thoughts from mind it’s time to review what is actually happening. Remember – motivation tells you in which direction to go and mind does the going. Your mind is (rightfully!)  now applying pressure to change direction and before you do that you can stop and consult with your motivation. If your motivation agrees with your mind then by all means reassess and if necessary change. But if your motivation remains true to it’s original course then you have an opportunity to make a choice.

Who will you listen to – motivation or mind?