“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius
I feel so loved and so blessed and so encouraged to have so many people asking me how I am doing concerning my battle with Parkinson’s. Part of my daily personal act of intentionally renewing my mind in a spiritual sense is in being intentional on the physical level, actively challenging my physical brain.
The main battleground of my spiritual life is the battleground of my mind. The enemy vies for my thoughts. That is why I make a point of renewing my mind each and every day in a spiritual sense. But the battleground of my mind has taken on a physical aspect which has basically doubled the efforts I personally make every day to bolster right thinking rather than stinkin’ thinkin’.
The obvious case in point? I struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. I know it is a degenerative disease that is slowly attacking my mind, so in addition to the spiritual battle I wage for my thoughts…for my faith…for my identity…for my sanity…I now have to wage a literal physical war for my brain. Just as with the spiritual warfare I face with my mind, I must utilize physical ways to renew my mind.
In addition to mentally putting off the lies of the enemy and replacing them with the thoughts of God and His Word through meditation on that Word, I must push back against the physical attacks on my brain by intentionally exercising my physical body, by keeping my mind sharp.
The way I do this is by keeping a daily list of creative things I want to accomplish, whether writing music or writing books, by working the New York Times Crossword each and every day, by challenging my children to defeat me at Wordle each day, by taking dopamine 4 times a day to replace this chemical neurotransmitter my brain is not making enough of anymore, and by watching Jeopardy. TMI?
I have a plan for challenging my physical body as much as possible. I do a cardio workout at least 5 days a week. In addition, I lift small weights to strengthen my arms which seems to help keep the tremors in my right arm from progressing and have recently incorporated a simple boxing routine to help me with cognitive awareness and physical balance. After each workout, regardless of how long or short it may be, I am left with a positive state of mind…and that is a healing balm to my soul.
Melinda is amazing at helping me stay positive even when the physical symptoms of Parkinson’s seem to have the upper hand. She helps keep me focused on God’s point of view rather than on my own point of view and that is priceless.
Following are some quotes that have proven helpful in keeping my mind focused on right thinking. I pray they encourage you to be very intentional in the practice of renewing your mind.
Dennis Jernigan
“You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.” Joyce Meyer
“What do you hang on the walls of your mind?” Eve Arnold
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale
“It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.” Robert H. Schuller
Photograph courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/10/09/04/20/eye-1725108_1280.jpg