“You may control a mad elephant;
You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger;
Ride the lion and play with the cobra;
By alchemy you may learn your livelihood;
You may wander through the universe incognito;
Make vassals of the gods; be ever youthful;
You may walk in water and live in fire;
But control of the mind is better and more difficult.”
~Paramahansa Yogananda~
Reflection:
On a daily basis, our mind tends to run "wild" with numerous thoughts which in turn influences our emotions. Not all thoughts will be positive. Some thoughts can be negative too. The more negative thoughts we have, the more negative emotions and feelings we carry with us. As such, it is necessary to constantly to "tame" the mind. We can tame the mind with various techniques - such as meditation, breaths, prayers and more.
By observing our own thoughts throughout the day, we are actually making conscious efforts to tune our thoughts to something more positive and beneficial (if it was negative). Failure to take care of one's own mind (that is the thoughts) not only disturbs our emotions, but indirectly our life too....
Spend some daily moments to "stop" and observe your thoughts.....it might not be an easy task at first. If we do it consistently to "check" on our thoughts, it becomes a good habit gradually.
