A Message from Tamara

When I was in the 8th grade, I had this quirky yet fun and adventurous science teacher named Mrs. Hornback.  She was tall, lanky with black hair sprinkled with a little gray and a small protruding mole on her nose.  My orchestra peers and I were convinced she was a witch - a good one of course.  She was always so animated and filled with one science experiment or story after the next.  Our attention was the best kept in school when she spoke because her vivid words always sent our imaginations on a journey.  One day, she began talking about scientific facts that seemed supernatural.  She told us about an incident when she and her mother were leaving out for the day, and as her mother walked toward the car, her mother fell and broke her hip.  She was injured badly, and Mrs. Hornback said she wasn't sure of what to do.  However, without thinking, she lifted her mother up from the ground and carried her to safety!  As I previously explained, Mrs. Hornback was very thin and appeared frail herself.  How was a woman of her stature able to pick up someone about the same size without a struggle?  That's when I first heard the term "mind over matter."  As humans, when there is a danger or an emergency situation, our minds can focus so strongly on getting away from the problem that we begin to produce additional Adrenaline, helping us to navigate to safety.  In Mrs. Hornback's case, her concern for her mother's health superseded her negative thoughts on her inability to lift extreme weight.  Her mind was able to override her physical ability, thus causing her to produce more of the chemical Adrenaline, extending the human body beyond its typical limits.

There are many obstacles that we face in life that cause us to doubt our ability to go beyond set limits - whether personal or societal.  People have told us we can't.  We have even told ourselves that we can't. However, we fail to realize that in believing that we "can't,” we are putting the concept of "mind over matter" to great use.  There are people who continually exist within the realm of negation (can't, ain't, not, no, don't, won't, etc.).  It doesn't always have to be verbalized but internalized (thought), and in that, the mind makes it a reality.  Sadly, when we think in negation, we place limits on ourselves and outlooks on life.  Our negative thinking isn't just what affects us as individuals but can adversely affect those around us.  

Conversely, I am here to offer some hope by helping you to B.R.I.D.G.E. your mind.

Is it not true that Newton's Third Law paraphrases that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction?” So…for every negative, there is a positive.  That statement right there just makes me excitedly happy! It is the understanding that if one thing exists, its opposite has to exist, otherwise we wouldn't be conscious of either. Now, I don't want to get too philosophical with this post because my aim is to inspire, motivate, and positively transform the mind.  So what's the moral?

It is imperative to keep an optimistic perspective when dealing with life.  In all that we do, we have a choice of how we process and deal with anything we encounter - the good and the bad.  It's Mind Over Matter.  However you think it is, it will be.  For those of you who live in "negation," it is time to change the dynamics of your thinking.  We must remove fear and doubt, and begin to view life from the perspective of gratitude.  Keep in mind that there are some things we can change and things we cannot, but how we THINK about situations is all that MATTERS.  

So, let's toast to the cliche that many of us have heard all of our lives and use its power for good.  By changing the dynamics of our thinking into positivity, we can overcome anything.  Remember, it's mind over matter. — Tamara M. Allen, MSML