Control: A Mantra for Change

"We talk to ourselves incessantly about our world. In fact we maintain our world with our internal talk. And whenever we finish talking to ourselves about ourselves and our world, the world is always as it should be. We renew it, we rekindle it with life, we uphold it with our internal talk. Not only that, but we also choose our paths as we talk to ourselves. Thus we repeat the same choices over and over until the day we die, because we keep on repeating the same internal talk over and over until the day we die. A warrior is aware of this and strives to stop his internal talk."

~ Carlos Castaneda, 20th century mystic and Toltec warrior from A Separate Reality

We're always talking to ourselves. Mind chatter ...

Just as Hinduism and Buddhism encourage us to control our mind, Shamanic wisdom teaches us to control our "internal dialogue."

Training for the Ironman has taught me to have a mantra that I can recite over and over to dispel my negative thoughts when I am unmotivated and don't want to train. Luckily, that mantra also works outside of training. At any moment it brings me back to my source, my center, allowing me to regroup and reevaluate my direction.

Mind control is the most important skill to reach a goal. A mantra is a good tool to begin controlling the mind.

The question is: What is your mantra?

Is it your mantra or a mantra inseminated by the media ... a message implanted by the television or radio?

- OR -

Is it a mantra given to you by your parents, teachers or friends?
Once I found my true self mantra, that made all the difference.

My friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. Here is the link:

http://edtheironman.blogspot.com/