Be still and know your mind. What is it thinking? What is it saying to you? Does it encourage you or dishearten you? Does it challenge you or let you off the hook? Is it tender and loving or harsh and condemning? Does it speak words of life to you, inspiring you to arise and take on the world, or does it encourage you to lay low and hide in a dark cupboard somewhere?

The mind is the most powerful of instruments and weapons. It is a little like a sword. It can be used for good or it can be used for evil. But sometimes it drives us without us ever stopping and listening to what it is sharing with us.

So begin today by recording your thoughts. Are they kind or harsh, fair or unfair, living or death thoughts? Are they full of worry and anxiety or hope and light? Unless and until you get to know yourself and your mind better you will be being driven in a car by a driver you are trusting your Life's direction to without knowing where you are going. If you never challenge that driver when he or she takes you down one dead end street after another or through dry and barren lands, then you have no one to blame but yourself. In the same way as you wouldn't trust a stranger to have total control over what you think or dream or hope for, don't give this power to a part of yourself without auditing the type of life it is taking you to each and every day.

Your mind is the captain of your ship. It sets the direction and coordinates each and every day. All too often we go where it goes. But our minds should be serving us and bringing good and life into our lives rather than leading us into treacherous waters which we can't escape from and get trapped in. Would we allow a cruise ship to take us to places we have no desire to travel to? We wouldn't. We would either never get on or we would choose to disembark at the first real signs that the captain of this ship can't really be trusted. If your life is in a bad place, has any of this got to do with the captain directing your ship? If so then you need to begin to watch and listen to what he or she is telling you in order to be better informed about their suitability to keep guiding your life.

You do not need to fire the captain because you can't, he or she is with you for life. But you can help train them to become better captains. However, for that to happen you first need to be still and listen and take note of all that they are sharing with you. You wouldn't get into a fast sports car with a driver with a reputation for crashing and burning their cars, for it would be dangerous and unsafe. In the same way, help your mind become a safe and good driver by helping them eliminate their bad habits and teaching them new and good ones.

If your life is somewhere it shouldn't be, test out the captain of your ship to see if the fault lies there. If not then you might need to explore other possibilities. But 9 times out of 10, the problem will have something to do with what your mind speaks into your life each and every day. Beware of your thought life until you are confident you are in safe and sure hands.