Wash your brain

I said there would be humor….well, here it is.  While discussing a name for my blog with my family, my eight-year-old son blurts out, “Wash your brain!”  We all had a good laugh.  In reality though, he didn’t realize how close to the truth he really was when he said that. 

We do many different things to keep ourselves healthy.  We learn how to develop a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and take all kinds of vitamins.  We participate in proper oral hygiene and general body cleanliness.  We grew up being told to wash behind our ears, but what about between our ears?  Yes, I’m talking about washing your brain.  

Taking care of your mental health requires you to keep your mind healthy.  What steps do you take to do this?  There is a song written by the Christian rock band, Skillet, called “American Noise.”  The lyrics of this song talk about how the world is filled with negative “noise,” and you have to cut through it all to sing your own song.  Basically make your own day rather than letting the noise of the world decide it for you. 

We all fall victim to the noise of the world.  It could be a dysfunctional upbringing, bullying at school, peer pressure, demanding bosses, bad grades in school, speeding tickets, addiction, abuse, and just plain listening to the bad news of the world.  All of the American noise that we live in daily.  In order to take care of our mental health, it is necessary to filter the noise.  Just as we filter our bodies of unhealthy food, we must filter our brains of unhealthy noise.

So, how do you filter the noise?  Each person has to find what works for them.  For some, it’s spending time in God’s Word on a daily basis.  For others, it’s releasing that negative energy through music, exercise, art, sports, reading, journaling, being a mentor, or being mentored by a good friend or through professional counseling.  Whichever you choose to be your filter, be sure that it leads to a path of positive energy and not further down the path of despair.

So, listen to your mother.  Wash behind your ears, but don’t forget to wash between them too.  A clean brain is a happy brain.