IT IS ALL IN THE MIND

Have you heard of the term called “Placebo Effect”? It is an effect that will make a person turnaround for the better by having faith in what he does or consume. Most of the time, this effect is used in the medical field where a patient is given a substitute make-believe medication (sugar pill) to treat his sickness. By believing that the medication is genuine, the patient’s expectation to recover has proven to be remarkably successful. Expectation is a powerful tool in life. The more you believe in yourself, the more positive you get in aiming for the best in life. This is how the human mind works!

The mind has often been referred to as the organ of consciousness. How the body functions in our daily lives is controlled by the mind. Based on perception, the mind can indirectly induce physiological changes to the body. When a person is down and out, the mind works in a chaotic way to think positively. All that comes out from the mind will be of negative thoughts, forever blaming oneself for the failures in life and not wanting to look into other possibilities to get out from the rot. Self confidence is then lost within the misty mind. Maybe some scenarios of placebo effects stated below will give you a clearer picture.

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John was a brainy guy but he liked to be a loner, making him the nerd of his class. Being so, he often got laughed at by his classmate for not joining in any of their activities. He felt so useless and depressed all the time. He has totally lost his confidence in socializing even with the quietest girl in class. The lecturer noticed the gradual downfall of John’s future and decided to take some drastic actions to help him rectify his problem.

One day after class, she gave him a pink tablet saying that it was her family secret recipe for boosting up courage. By believing that was true, John became a total changed person the next day. Not only did he excel in his studies, he was the Sportsman of the year. Eventually, girls began to swarm him and he became the Prom King too. Only years after becoming a successful international public relation network founder did he knew about the secret behind the pink pill. It was nothing but a candy pill. His failure in socializing was all in his mind. During a reunion dinner, he was all praise for the lecturer whom had used the placebo effect on him and made him who he was today.

Darren on the other hand had failed miserably in his business deals as a big investor suddenly pulled out from his company shares. He was in the midst of bankruptcy as his debtors were demanding for their payments. His mind was lost for solutions to save his company. Feeling depressed, he went to a nearby garden for a walk to have some fresh air to clear the mind.

An elderly man saw his troubled look and asked him, “Is there anything I can do to help you? You looked depressed.” Darren told him about his woes and how he was deprived of another chance. The man just smiled at him and took out a pen and a cheque book. He then wrote a cheque for $600,000 and signed on it. “Just filled up your name and return the amount to me a year from now here.” Darren was stunned by his kindness. Before he could thank him, the man disappeared. On the cheque was the signature of LBS, one of the richest tycoons in the country.

Darren happily walked back to his office thinking that he was the luckiest man on earth that day. The amount would have saved all his monetary worries. Instead of cashing the cheque immediately, Darren left it securely locked in his drawer. He has his confidence back knowing that there will be enough cash to bail him out from being a bankrupt. With this renewed confidence, it motivated Darren to go all out to seal more deals. Within a few months, Darren closed many big deals and was out of debt. In fact, his company doubled its annual income and the staffs were happy with the bonuses given.

One year later, he went back to the garden with the uncashed cheque. He saw the man sitting on the bench waiting for him. As he was moving towards him, he saw two men in white uniforms approached the elderly man. They had a commotion there. He hurriedly went over to help the man out. Only did he find out that the man was a patient from a nearby psychiatric ward. Darren stood there stunned. He did not know that for the whole year he has been dealing confidently, knowing that he has $600,000 to back him up in case things went wrong. He then realized that it was not the money but his renewed self confidence that made him successful in his business.

Don’t you think the mind is a wonderful asset in our body? By thinking positively, it will boost up our inner power to strive for the better. So don’t give up hope when you are down and depressed. Have the faith in yourself. Believe that whatever hardship and pain you are in, think positively in your approach. After all, if you believe you can do it, you can do it!

IF ONLY WE HAVE FAITH IN OUR OWN ACTIONS

The sound of thunder was booming very loudly, deafening my ear drums painfully. It was raining heavily and the chillness from the freezing cold wind felt as if it was piercing right into my bones. I was stuck, stuck in the mall because I forgot to bring my umbrella out from my car which was parked nearby. The sky was sunny and bright when I went shopping and as usual I assumed that the weather would be fine towards the end of the day.

Standing and tapping my feet impatiently at the entrance of the mall, I was cursing at Mother Nature for stalling my ever hectic schedule. The more I cursed, the heavier the raindrops fell onto the road, creating small puddles within a short period of time. From one end of my eye, I noticed a small boy with a man, which I believed was his Dad. My mind suddenly drifted back to my childhood years when I went shopping with my parents and brother. Those were the best times I ever had being together with the whole family, spending precious time together as a family. I missed all those good memories.

At that moment, I saw the boy looking at his Dad with those cute pathetic eyes while pulling the shirt of his Dad. I overheard what he said to his Dad and my heart went soft immediately. He said, “Daddy, why must we wait here when we can run through the rain to our car?” His Dad replied, “Let us wait until the rain slow down then we go together. You would not want to get soak and be sick right?” After a few minutes, the rain was still pouring heavily without giving any mercy to any of us.

“Daddy, we would not get wet!” said the boy. His Dad was stunned and asked him what he meant. “You told Mum that she could get through her sickness anytime if we have strong faith in ourselves. Daddy! Let us run through the rain!” The whole crowd became dead silent and all eyes were on the boy. Everyone was stunned at how a child so young and innocent would remark that way. Even an adult at times will not think so rational. The remark had affected all of us mentally and emotionally. “Yes, you are right son. Nothing can stop us from believing in ourselves. Let us run to the car!” said his Dad.

Everyone was clapping their hands and cheering at the father and son as they ran through the rain towards their car. They then followed, walking happily towards their cars, ignoring the wetness of the weather. I did too and I was down with a bit of flu. Sleeping through it and believing that I will be better the next day, I recovered and I was more energetic than ever. I then believed that there is always a reason for our actions. My reason was I never had enough rest as my workload just never seems to end. The mild flu made me rest more and now my concentration and thinking power has strengthened, enabling me to write better.

There are always many barriers obstructing us from meeting our goals in life. Do not ever give up as there are always ways to turn around for the better. Life is just like a stage. Overcoming the fear by having strong faith in ourselves, believing in what we can do, acting on it would not be much problem.

Run through your fear, run though your life without ever looking back into the sorrowful past, keep moving forward, keep believing in yourself that you can do it and running through the rain would not be so hard anymore.

Life is short... If you do not have faith in yourself, you might just miss the journey to a better life!