Remember when you were child, playing outdoors? Remember how you would run, jump, and gallivant around without a care in the world?

You might have to strain your memory to think back to those days, but most of us spent a good deal of time outside as youngsters.

The world seemed magical then. Everything was big, bright, expansive, colorful. The world was your jungle, and every day could be a safari.

At some point, everything changed. You barely noticed it, but suddenly, outside was just outside. Eventually, the scenery that was once captivating and wondrous became drab and commonplace.

But, it wasn’t the world that changed. It was your perspective. 

You might think that such a shift in perspective is a natural part of “growing up”, but you know what? No, it isn’t. Or at least it doesn’t have to be.

The world is still an awe-inspiring and beautiful place for those of us who know how to open our eyes to it. Maybe, if you let me, I can show you how.

Photo Credit: paul bica (Creative Commons)

Cultivating a Child-Mind

The secret to seeing the world as a gorgeous, technicolor dreamscape is to stay in touch with the child within, the part of you that is still playful, curious, spontaneous, and imaginative.

I promise you — you still have your child-self’s eyes tucked away somewhere, and if you can unlock them, the world will once again sparkle with the light of a thousand suns.

Maybe that sounds like some hippie, new age mumbo jumbo, but stick with me here. Don’t knock me until you try what I’m going to suggest.

Cultivating a child-mind isn’t so much a matter of changing or adding something to your mind. It’s a matter of removing the filters and barriers that you’ve constructed.

Barrier #1: Speed

We live in a hyper-fast-paced world. We’re always running, running, running. We coast down superhighways in our high-powered automobiles to get to our indoor jobs. We walk briskly through the streets with our eyes buried in our iPhones. 

We need to slow down. 

“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”
― Leo Tolstoy

As Leo Tolstoy wisely observed over a century ago, the first thing you need to do to reconnect with the marvels of the world is to pause what you’re doing, jar yourself out of the scurrying, the endless to-do list. 

Go for an aimless walk. Lie down with your family and watch the stars. Grab a park bench and really watch the squirrels or the swaying trees.

Barrier #2: Noise

Our world is beyond noisy. Barking advertisements on the radio. Gung-ho sportscasters on TV. Earbuds constantly plugged in. Everyone always yapping and yapping some more.

You need to escape the noise.

Unplug for a couple of hours. Walk down by the river. Find a sanctuary, and just be. Yes, I’m serious. Just sit there, listen, and observe.

Barrier #3: Words

Now, while the first two barriers may have seemed fairly obvious to you, this is the one that isn’t so intuitive. Yet, it’s the most important — the secret. 

Words limit our perception of the world.

Don’t get me wrong. I love words. They are exceptionally powerful, and I relish the chance to play with them every day. But, it is absolutely integral to understand how they frame and compartmentalize every aspect of our lives.

Words are symbols that stand in place of concepts. They are sounds or ink squiggles that have meaning because we have agreed upon a meaning for them.

It’s key to realize this — words are abstract representation. They are not the world; they are invented signs.

What does this have to do with developing a child-mind?

As we grow older, we look at a bird or a tree or a pond or the sunset, and we think, “Yep, that’s a bird or a tree or a pond or a sunset. 

We’ve defined the thing in our mind long ago, and so we look at it and see nothing more than a concept, a normality. We simply see the same, boring old picture that was locked away in our consciousness when our fathers pointed and said, “That’s a tree.”

But what was the world like before we knew the words to describe it? What is the world beyond definition and thought? Ah-ha!

This is the world we must get to. This is what you’re digging for.

See the world without rationalizing it. View it without judgment. 

You must actively try to do this because your brain’s default setting is to overlook everything that it thinks it knows. You have the ability to make the familiar become unfamiliar.

One effective method I’ve found to do this is meditation. (See my guide to meditation.) After meditating for just a couple of minutes in a park or natural setting, my thoughts have subsided, my mind is still, my vision is dark. When I open my eyes, I see the landscape as pure artistic form. I swear to you — it’s glowing, breathing almost, pleasant, uplifting. I glimpse an aura that I could not otherwise see. 

Another way to awaken your mind from its default setting is to really stop and look at a thing. Squarely, for an extended period. Transfix your gaze. Actively try to contemplate its aesthetic form without limiting it to a word.

I realize it’s ironic that I’m using words to try to explain how you might view a world without words, but I’ll try anyway. Maybe this will help.

With a child’s eyes, what might a starry night sky become? An obsidian canvas peppered with twinkling, blazing diamonds. The pupil of God exploding with radiant beacons of distant fire.

Do you see what I’m doing? I’m resorting to more elaborate, poetic metaphors to try to jar you out of your conception of a night sky as just a sky.

What might a tree become? A bark-clad, skeletal nature-finger erupting from the Earth’s flesh. A mighty, organic claw, strewn with fluttering bits of color, reaching for the heavens.

You can do this too. See the world through the eye of imagination, rather than the calculations of reason.

When We’re Able to Do This

When we can view the world without words and classifications, we’re stricken by awe and reverence. It’s so mysterious, so sublime. Almost like, Woah! What is this place?!

When we can recognize this world that we once lost, we can regain our child-mind and carry it with us. Suddenly, even a glance to the sky or a peak out the window at any given moment can be a source of inspiration. Not to mention that it makes us want to be in nature, which (as I’ve written before) comes with so many health benefits.

A single day and your entire life can be transformed by this realization. 

And think — if everyone tried to do this, the world would become a much kinder, more awesome place. We’re all in this majestic place together.

The most important way to manifest this perspective in your life is to use your imagination. Climb a tree. Walk backwards. Make animal noises. Literally, play as if you were a child, and that world can come back to you. 

Actively strip away the barriers that society and your mind have formed. Learn to see an impenetrable, breath-taking mystery in all things. 

Do this, and I promise you — all will be better for it.

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”
― William Blake

P.S. If you dug this post, sign up for free updates or “like” Refine The Mind on Facebook. I’d like for you to be a part of this community. I have a lot in store! Thanks, friends.

The post Your Grown-Up Mind is Blinding You to Beauty appeared first on Refine the Mind.

“No,” he replied. “They go to Hell.”

My cousin was deeply troubled. She went home and told my aunt, “I don’t know if I can believe in a God who would send friends of mine to Hell for not believing what I believe.”

Her reaction makes me happy. Who would want to believe in such a God?

Who would celebrate a supposedly all-knowing, infinitely benevolent Creator who casts the majority of His beloved children into an abyss of eternal fire and brimstone?

I would hope that no one would, but it seems that this isn’t the case. It seems that a man who purports to be a mentor for my impressionable cousin is happy to do so.

And there’s something very wrong with this.

Photo Credit: Fady Habib (Creative Commons)

Recognize That Some Doctrine is Antiquated

The words of my cousin’s supposed mentor sound like a scare tactic or a threat. He might as well have said, “Don’t even think about not believing in the one true God or you’ll sign your ticket to Satan’s endless torture chamber.”

Some people might tell me that I can’t blame this man because he was merely relaying the actual Catholic doctrine to my cousin. After all, it really does say that in the Bible.

Well, Scripture also says you aren’t supposed to get a round haircut, tattoo your body, wear gold, or eat shellfish either. But don’t worry – you can keep slaves. Denying freedom to a fellow human being is a-okay.

With the exception of the most extreme adherents to the Bible, most Catholics (and Christians generally) nowadays accept that some ideas found in the Holy Book are outdated and misguided.

I know a whole lot of Catholics who don’t buy into such ludicrous restrictions and who wouldn’t drive them into the minds of youngsters.

But, this piece isn’t about lambasting the nuances of Catholic Church. I know many Catholics who possess a more modern perspective on the doctrine and are genuinely kind people.

The Notion of Exclusivity

What’s most important to notice about the anecdote — and what this article is about — is the notion of exclusivity implicit in the ideology of my cousin’s “mentor’s” beliefs.

I mean – when he dies, he’ll be rewarded with 72 virgins in cloud paradise while all the other poor schmucks get to watch the skin melt from their bodies for infinity. Contrasts don’t come much starker than that one.

It’s important to note that Christian faiths are examples of religions in which exclusivity is literally built into the fabric of the belief system. Do things our way, and you’ll be rewarded beyond measure. Choose not to follow our rules, and you will be punished.

Not all religions are based in such black-and-white principles. However, this certainly doesn’t mean that practitioners of any faith are immune to the effects of group self-centeredness and a mentality of exclusivity.

An interesting psychological study showed that narcissism tends to become more rampant in groups. This is because it is acceptable and even encouraged in many organizations to believe that “ours is the best one”.

Additionally, the study indicated that when a person feels that one group to which they belong (political party, gender, race, religion, sports team, etc.) is superior to all others, they are more likely to feel that way about all groups to which they belong.

And sadly, the study showed that a person’s belief that their social groups are superior tends to manifest itself in the form of negativity directed toward other groups.

So, exclusivity is built into the very fabric of groups. Groups encourage an attitude of superiority, and that attitude leads to discrimination against other groups.

It’s easy to find evidence from the past to support these findings. The history of our world is peppered with horrendous examples of war, genocide, and hate crimes that result from one group attempting to assert its superiority over another.

Unfortunately, many of these atrocities (think Islamic jihads, Salem witch trials, the inquisition, etc.) have been committed in the name of religion. And it isn’t just isolated incidents that happened hundreds of years ago. Murder, oppression, discrimination, and acts of brutality are still committed in the name of religion every day.

Why This Troubles Me So Much

I realize that many awful events of history are unrelated to religion, and I don’t think the ones that have religious associations are inherently worse than the others.

However, exclusivity (leading to intolerance and animosity) in religious organizations irks me even more than exclusivity in other groups and prompted me to write this post. Why? Because of this:

All religions have one thing in common: they tell us to love and be kind to one another.

This is what every religion is founded upon! Once you sift through the minutia of doctrine-baggage that also accompanies every organized religion, you find that the most central message of all of them is the same: be loving and compassionate first and foremost.

But somehow, when all of the rules and interpretations and descriptions of the divine are thrown into the mix, religious institutions and their practitioners lose sight of this overarching principle.

They set themselves against one another and against those who choose to be secular, atheist  or agnostic because they are too caught up in the details.

They lose sight of the ultimate purpose of religion — to make the world a more loving, unified place — and instead get tied up in the inconsequential dogma.

So they miss the point entirely.

As a result, these organizations — these churches — that are supposed to exemplify love and acceptance become sources of exclusion and intolerance (which historically and inevitably lead to violence and hate-mongering).

And this only further reinforces the narrow-mindedness and bigotry that already infect so many of our societies and institutions.

I should stress again that religious organizations are absolutely not the sole culprit of perpetuating these types of attitudes in our society — many, many organizations do.

However, religions have always had and continue to have an opportunity to set a better example. They have the opportunity to shine as the beacons that they were meant to be — lighthouses celebrating something higher, more humane, more loving, and more understanding.

When organizations that are supposed to support love and humanity join the ranks of exclusive groups that promote discriminative attitudes, they’re missing that opportunity.

Common Mission

Therefore, it is imperative that people of organized religions remember that they are all bound together under a common mission — a mission to spread love and kindness.

When a religious zealot twists their beliefs into a reason to look down upon or berate or attack someone, they’re failing to uphold that common mission.

Furthermore, this mission is certainly not reserved only for practitioners of religion. It’s a mission shared by scientists, hard materialists, spiritualists, non-believers, and all kinds of caring folks worldwide.

Spreading love, kindness, and understanding is a mission that transcends the classification of any religion. It’s a way of life that anyone can practice at any time. It’s a universal religion. 

The Biggest Obstacle

This post was about organized religion, but it was meant to use organized religion to relay a message about group membership.

We must be cautious about becoming arrogant about the groups we join. If we’re not careful, they become a reason to divide the world and make us all resentful of one another.

We become so swept up in our group identities — Republican, Chiefs fan, male, academic, Caucasian, hipster, upper class, bodybuilder, American, sorority sister, Mormon, etc. — that we begin to automatically exclude, antagonize, and hold animosity toward people who aren’t in those groups.

We end up completely forgetting about our human identity, and even beyond that, our identity as one of 9 million species on the planet.

This is why group membership is truly the biggest obstacle to the practice of universal compassion. It’s okay for us to be in groups, but we need to check ourselves and be conscientious of how our groups are making us view and treat other people.

We should aim to expand our consciousness to include and accept everyone and everything. We should make an effort to stop judging and condemning and instead embrace the diversity of our planet. We should focus on cultivating our individuality, rather than allowing our groups to define our identity for us.

If we can do that, we’ll find that the only real Hell is the prison of intolerance that we constructed.

We’ll discover that treating all people with kindness and respect isn’t just a golden ticket to Heaven. It’s an end in itself. It’s our liberation.

“Our true nationality is mankind.”
― H.G. Wells

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe or connect to join the community. It’s as quick and simple as a game of tic-tac-toe, and you can always leave later if you decide it’s not meant to be. Thanks, friend.

(Clarification: A friend expressed concern that I had misrepresented the Catholic Church, so let me clarify: The modern Catholic Church does, in fact, believe that members of other Christian religions and even other faiths can go to Heaven, so long as they believe in God, are baptized, or desire to be baptized. Non-believers, however, cannot.)

The post The Dangerous Mistake of Organized Religions appeared first on Refine the Mind.

Basically, it’s awesome-miraculous.

Although my opening metaphor may be a bit grandiose, I used it to emphasize the most important point in this article: Meditation is a practice of extraordinary value that is literally accessible to everyone on the planet.

Most people don’t meditate, though. Some try it once or twice and throw in the towel. What a shame. The majority of people don’t understand the many benefits of a meditation practice.

In our chaotic, fast-paced world, meditation and mindfulness are more useful and necessary than ever before.

Photo Credit: Cornelia Kopp (Creative Commons)

Why We Should All Want to Meditate

When you imagine meditation, you probably envision a cross-legged guru chanting “ommmm” in a sanctuary perched atop a mountain.

This certainly is meditation, but our popular conception thwarts people from incorporating meditation into their lives for a couple of reasons:

1. We think it’s just for religious folks. – We mistakenly assume that meditation is only for the spiritual sensei seeking enlightenment. False. Anyone can meditate and greatly benefit from it. It does not have to have anything to do with religion.

2. We think it’s boring. – Who wants to sit around and do nothing when you can watch 42 episodes of Breaking Bad, play Angry Birds, or browse Reddit until your eyeballs fall out? Well, you should. Ostensibly, meditation appears to be a state of inactivity. However, it’s actually a very purposeful mental exercise that entirely absorbs the mind, if done correctly. You may feel relaxed, uplifted, and even ecstatic.

3. It seems very foreign. – In Western cultures, meditation is not a mainstream practice. We’re not taught to meditate at a young age and encouraged to continue throughout our lives. Thus, we don’t understand what it is. It seems deep and difficult. In fact, it’s rather simple to learn and becomes very natural with a little practice.

The truth is that meditation is an absolutely free way to supercharge your mind, body, and spirit. It isn’t time-consuming and can be done in any quiet space.

You’re probably thinking, “Okay, I want specifics. What can meditation do for me?”

A better question might be what can’t meditation do for you. Meditation has endless benefits. Here are 100 of them. I won’t list too many here, but a few favorites of mine should give you an idea:

1. Reduced stress/anxiety/depression
2. Increased self-confidence/acceptance of self
3. Increased ability to regulate thoughts and emotions
4. Heightened sense of calmness and empathy
5. Increased productivity
6. Increased energy levels
7. More creativity
8. Heightened ability to focus
9. Less negative thoughts

You might wonder, “Are these benefits real? What does science say about meditation?”

If you type “benefits of meditation” into Google Scholar, it returns 90,000 results. Start reading a few of the abstracts, and you find that every study attests to the benefits of meditation.

This study, for example, found that meditators felt less upset about the criticism of others than non-meditators and had less bodily aches and pains. This article discusses recent findings in neuroscience that showed how meditation redirects brain waves from the stress-prone right frontal cortex to the calmer left frontal cortex. Righteous!

The peacefulness, slowness, and sense of oneness that can be achieved through meditation is more needed than ever in our society. People run, run, run all day and burn through to-do list after to-do list, accumulating stress and anxiety until they become sick and fatigued.

Meditation opens up room for perspective on our never-ending succession of tasks and errands. It allows us to just stop and breathe amidst the frantic hamster-wheel-running and muddled balderdash that comprises much of modern society. 

Convinced yet? I hope so. Now that I’ve rambled on about why I think meditation is so groovy, it’s time to explain how to do it.

A Simple Guide to Meditation

1. Find a quiet, relaxing space. – Zero distractions are key. The goal of meditation is to stop thinking about anything. It’s best if you do it in a room in your house that isn’t used for other purposes. However, your bedroom will work fine if you have limited space. Personally, I love meditating in the sauna. You’ll want a flat surface on which to sit.

2. Close your eyes, cross your legs, fold your hands. – This is general advice, as different people will find that different positions allow them to most easily achieve a state of meditative solace. Some like to lie down or even have their eyes open and stare at a candle. You can experiment to see what works for you, but I recommend starting with this, as it’s worked best for me.

3. Focus on relaxing every part of your body. – We often don’t realize how tense our bodies really are. Pay careful attention, hone in on the precise locations of tension, and let the tension slip away. Slight adjustments of position can help. Focus on relaxing your face muscles as well. The muscles next to your eyes and mouth specifically. You may feel your tongue expand as it relaxes.

4. Concentrate solely on your breathing. — Breathe through your nose. Some suggest breathing more from the abdomen than the upper chest, but you don’t necessarily have to. I prefer not to try to control my breathing at all, but rather to passively observe as the automatic process occurs. Focus on your breath as it enters your nose, travels down your throat, fills your lungs, and escapes back from whence it came. Count your breaths if that helps you. I also (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily) imagine myself in a tranquil environment. I imagine myself seated as I am in an infinitely expansive bright, white space or floating over the waves of the ocean.

5. Let everything else slip away. – If you have a stray thought, return to your breathing. If you feel restless, return to your breathing. Keep at it, and everything will slip away. Silence and stillness will remain. As the external world fades, be conscious of everything within you — any stray thoughts, any sensations, and the space which your body is occupying. Observe everything, and let everything go.

And that’s really all there is to it! The ultimate goal is to focus on nothing at all. Your breath acts as your anchor and helps narrow your focus to a single thing. However, as you feel yourself going deeper and deeper into the quiet space of the mind, you eventually stop noticing your breathing as well. When you reach this state, your mind is absolutely blank. You feel a powerful sense of oneness. This state is difficult to attain, and I have only done so a few times. Yet, it is by no means necessary to reach this point to reap the rewards of meditation.

Still, there are a few more things you ought to know before you begin trying to meditate.

A Few Tips for Beginners

1. You will find it very difficult at first. – We aren’t used to quieting our thoughts, and like anything else, it takes practice. Do not become frustrated! You’ll find that it isn’t as easy as it sounds to focus on nothing but your breathing. Your mind will drift away, and you’ll catch yourself thinking about other things. That’s okay. I don’t think this ever stops. Simply notice when your mind drifts, and immediately focus on directing your focus back to your breathing. Meditation is a purposeful activity. It requires effort and attentiveness. Remember: it becomes much easier after some practice.

2. Daily practice will lead to fast results. – Ideally, you will meditate for several minutes at roughly the same time each day. Practicing sporadically or trying to meditate once every couple weeks will make it difficult to improve. You need to do it fairly often. Some people suggest twice a day. Personally, once is usually enough for me.

3. Start small. – If you try to meditate for 20 minutes right off the bat, you are unlikely to stick with the habit. (For more on forming habits, read The Simple, Powerful Guide to Forming Any Habit) Aim for 1-2 minutes at first. Some find it helpful to set a timer. Just give it your best effort for those couple minutes. Even 2 minutes of meditation can significantly improve my mood and mental clarity. I rarely meditate for more than 5-10 minutes.

4. Guided meditation may be your cup of tea. – Guided meditation can be a lifesaver, especially for beginners. I still use guided meditation often. Paraliminals are my favorite (they’re pretty amazing), but you can find many free guided meditation videos and audio recordings online.

For further reading, I also recommend these 20 tips for beginners and this solid guide from Lifehacker.

Best of Luck, Meditators

So that’s about all I have to say on the topic of meditation. If you’re having troubles or want further advice, let me know and I can help or write more on the topic in future posts.

Like many things worth doing, meditation isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

Think of meditation as conditioning your mind to see through the gunk-sludge of day-to-day stresses in order to appreciate and be calm in the moment. That’s really what it is.

Remember: the mind is a tool which needs to be sharpened and refined. Meditation is one of the best possible ways to upgrade from a squirt gun to a photon cannon.

Anyways, have an exceptional day and happy meditating!

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”
― T.S. Eliot

P.S. If this post was like a cool breeze on a hot summer day, subscribe for free updates or ‘like’ Refine The Mind on Facebook to show your support and stay in the know. Thanks, amigo.

The post Magic in the Mind: A Straightforward, Fun Guide to Meditation appeared first on Refine the Mind.

They filter through the system, doing what they’ve been told to do, living out cookie-cutter lives, and distracting themselves whenever possible.

This may sound like a cynical viewpoint, but I’m afraid it isn’t.

I’ve definitely been one of those people for periods of time. Some days, I still feel like a confused automaton trapped in a cold and unforgiving matrix.

I ask myself, “What am I doing here? What makes this life worth it?”

Photo Credit: ruanyuanyuan123456789 (Creative Commons)

When I begin to ask myself these questions, I have to take a step back and examine my most profound motivators – my deepest beliefs.

It is through reflecting on these beliefs that I am able to regain a sense of purpose and an acceptance of some of the drudgery that will inevitably arise on my path.

If you wish to have a consistent sense of purpose and motivation in life, you need to believe deeply in something.

And it can’t be just anything, but more on that in a moment. 

A Few Words on Most People’s Motivations

The people I mentioned earlier – those who pass aimlessly through life – tend to lack the type of motivation to which I’m referring.

These people are motivated primarily by one or more of the following:

1. Selfishness – They constantly ask, “What can this do for me? How will I benefit from this?”.

2. Greed – They are primarily concerned with accumulating significant wealth, property, and other fancy or shiny things with which to decorate their lives and distract themselves.

3. Hedonism – They seek out every opportunity to indulge in shallow pleasures – sex, drugs, TV, fast food, etc. These things aren’t inherently bad, but when they become the primary aims of one’s life, emptiness follows.

4. Pressure to Assimilate – They submit to the status quo (often unthinkingly), copying the latest trends and fads. They do this mostly because it’s easy, because they’ve been lied to, and because they deeply fear being rejected by their fellow humans.

These types of motivators are rampant in society, and unfortunately, they lead to widespread discontent.

Perhaps some people can follow these motivations and convince themselves that they’ve attained some sense of purpose. But personally, I think it will always be an artificial, lie-to-yourself kind of “purpose”.

Finding a Deeper Motivator

So, now I’ve explained that most people feel vaguely lost because the majority of their motivation is comprised of shallow and selfish desires.

I’ve also hinted that in order to attain a true sense of purpose, your motivations need to be based in deeper beliefs. What do these beliefs look like?

Well, deeper motivating beliefs can take many forms, but I believe that they always have a common denominator.

Deeper beliefs that endow us with a true sense of purpose have their foundations in love, compassion, and sharing.

As opposed to the selfishness that governs most people’s lives, selflessness is truly at the heart of the deepest motivators – those that fill us with a sense of purpose.

Basically, you have to want to do what you’re doing because it helps other people (or animals, don’t forget animals).

Examples of Deeper Motivators

Here are a few of my deeper beliefs. These are values that I hold at the core of my being. I try to allow them to govern most of my daily activity and my larger life decisions.

As you’ll notice, they’re based on sharing my talents and myself to affect others.

1. A belief in my ability to impact the world in positive ways and ultimately to help create a better world.

2. A belief in the power of cultivating love and spreading it to others.

3. A belief in the value of creating art and sharing it with the world.

4. A belief in reading, learning from my experiences, and gaining understanding in all forms – to better communicate with others and to become a better person.

5. A belief in the supreme importance of nurturing my relationships with my family and friends.

6. A belief in the value of trying to be kind and generous to everyone. 

You might ask, where do these beliefs come from?

I think that, for some people, beliefs such as these derive from their religion. For more people, though, I think they come as a result of experience.

Either through helping others or realizing the suffering of other people, you come to develop greater levels of compassion.

As this happens, you come to understand that shaping your life around sharing your talents to help others is the most rewarding way to live.

The Hardest Part (Acting On It)

For me, these beliefs didn’t really solidify until I decided to try to start caring more for others and doing something about it.

I began volunteering often, helping students and friends with their writing, and eventually, I started this blog. Traveling abroad may have also had something to do with it.

It took a bit of faith for me to do those things. I was a pretty selfish person (and still am, sometimes), and it would’ve been much easier for me to keep doing what I’d been doing.

However, after truly investing effort into bettering the lives of other people, I finally realized that that’s why we’re all really here.

We’re all in this life together, and if we love and help one another, amazing things happen. We improve the world and find purpose.

And therefore, I’m asking you:

If you’re searching for a deeper sense of purpose, start cultivating compassion by actually working hard to help others.

The “working hard” part is most important. There’s no way around it. You won’t begin to find that true sense of purpose until you’ve made a real effort.

The good news is that you can start really small. Smile at a stranger. Hold the door for someone. Volunteer a couple hours at a local animal shelter. Go from there.

Don’t give up if you don’t see immediate results. The point is not to do something tiny and ask, “Is my life meaningful yet?”.

The point is to make a habit of losing yourself in the act of serving the world, and to realize that you feel useful and content while doing so.

So go ahead. Make an honest effort. I know it doesn’t sound glamorous, but that’s because it isn’t. It’s more important.

A better world starts with you and I. That’s the motto. That’s the purpose. Now let’s go live it.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

P.S. If you liked this post, please ‘like’ Refine The Mind on Facebook for more content and to show your support. Thank you!

The post The Essential Ingredient to Finding a Sense of Purpose in Life appeared first on Refine the Mind.

Last summer, I hopped on a plane and flew to Europe, where I lived with a host family for a month and studied at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, Spain.

I was nervous about leaving my beloved American comfort zone, but I was also extraordinarily excited to discover the people and memories that were waiting for me on the other side of the world.

When I arrived, it was a bit overwhelming. The language was different. The food seemed unusual. The social norms were foreign.

Being a rather open-minded and adventurous person, I dove headfirst into all of it.

Photo Credit: Luis Argerich (Creative Commons)

I spoke Spanish for hours every day in class and with my host family. I immersed myself in the new traditions and cultural idiosyncrasies that were all around me. I sampled, then devoured any and all food. (Stomach is rumbling; my host mom was something like a magical goddess of culinary mastery.)

Instead of cowering in the face of this new environment, I knew what I needed to do: embrace it all and live it up.

And that’s precisely what I did. Looking back, I have a more vivid memory of that month of my life than any other. It seems like I did so much.

I remember the insanity of watching Spain win the Eurocup with several thousand Spaniards. I remember exploring castles from Medieval times in Segovia, ancient caves in Candeleda, and the great art museum, El Prado, in Madrid. I remember skinny-dipping in the Atlantic, as well as being startled in the early morning by the antics of an exceptionally rambunctious French Rugby team at a hostel in Barcelona.

For more pictures, check out the travel blog I kept while in Spain

These are just a few snippets from the highlight reel. There are truly too many memories to recount.

Going to Spain opened my eyes. It opened the proverbial floodgates of my wanderlust. It made me realize that traveling the world isn’t something I’d like to do; it’s something I must do. It’s as necessary as oxygen.

Traveling abroad had such a profound impact on me that I feel absolutely compelled to write this post — it’s been a long time coming. Think of this post as a sincere plea. Literally, I am begging you:

LEAVE YOUR HOME COUNTRY. TRAVEL ELSEWHERE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.

And don’t just stay in luxurious hotels. Walk the streets. Get dirty. Meet the locals. See the natural landscape. Do some unexpected shit. Surprise yourself. Try as much of the cuisine as possible. Breathe it all in. Don’t get caught up in the little annoyances of the day-to-day. Cherish everything.

I urge you. Just do it.

8 Empowering, Cannot-Miss Realizations

If you’re still not convinced, I thought I would share a few of the realizations that I think really sink in when you travel abroad. These are the types of things that we think we understand, but which we don’t truly feel in our depths until we have the type of remarkable experiences that one can find in foreign places.

Realization #1: The memories we cherish most in life do not come from the familiarity of a routine.

Do you know what happens when our lives are reduced to a routine? When every day is more or less the same as the previous one?

Time whooshes by like a ghost.

If I look at any lone month of my life where I’ve been in school and/or working a job, I can maybe pull out a few memories at best. Most of the days just merge together into a fuzzy outline of the month that bears a haunting resemblance to the movie Groundhog Day.

Contrast that with my time in Spain. Memory after memory come to mind in fond recollection, forming a beautiful mosaic of lovely nostalgia. No one can erase those memories from my mind.

If we’re not careful, days run together, months run together, years run together, and then we die. Life can escape us so quickly. It might seem like you have plenty of time to do things, but don’t be so sure.

Tomorrow is never promised to us, so doing the things that are worth doing shouldn’t be forever placed on the back-burner. Travel abroad because you’ll make the memories that will last where others fade.

Realization #2: Stepping beyond our comfort zone is how we become strong, confident, independent, capable, and rich in spirit.

It isn’t easy being dropped into a foreign culture. Don’t confuse yourself — it can be challenging.

Navigating airports, public transportation, dining, and other everyday systems that we take for granted tests your patience and resourcefulness.

But you know what? You do it. You make it work.

I had a bag containing $700 worth of goods stolen from me on a beach in Barcelona. It contained my iPod (aka my soul), my return bus ticket, my phone, my wallet, the book I was reading, some clothes, and a couple other things. I was forced to ride the subway back to our hostel in only swim trunks and take a different bus than my friends the next day for an 8-hour ride back to Toledo with no book or iPod.

Did that suck? You bet. Did I handle it? Sure did. Do I laugh about it now? Yep.

When you’re forced to make it through difficult times like that one, your self-concept begins to shift. You’re not a helpless, fearful, spoiled, reliant little homebody suckling on the teet of American consumerism anymore — you’re a powerful, seasoned manager of your own affairs, aka a badass.

You realize you had untapped reserves of awesomeness all along that were left unseen because your life was pretty freaking easy.

Having these experiences again and again in a foreign country transforms us in amazing ways, and I want that for you. I want that for you with all of my blood and bones. Hopefully you won’t have to lose $700 in the process, but if you do, remember that it doesn’t mean apocalypse.

Realization #3: The world is filled with opportunities just waiting for you to sieze them.

You know what irks the bejesus out of me? People who say they’re bored. “I’m sooooooo bored. Wah, wah, wah me.” Put a sock in it.

Life is only boring when we choose to make it so. Do you know how many things there are to learn and create and discover and explore and do all the time?

Do you know how many people would do most anything for the opportunity to freely be able to do those things?

Buck the f&#% up. The only thing stopping you from living an exciting life is yourself.

Traveling to Spain didn’t just happen without effort. I had to go through the rigmarole of paperwork, scholarship applications, document goose-chases, and all sorts of other mumbo jumbo to make the trip happen.

At the time, doing all of that stuff seemed lame and like a waste of time. As it turns out, it was the most worthwhile time I ever spent.

My Spain experience showed me that jumping through a few hoops to do something awesome is always worth it. There are countless opportunities out there, and snatching most of them will involve setbacks, monotony, and unforeseen crapola.

Make them happen anyway. They’re all around you. Make something happen. You have to do it.

Realization #4: There are countless lifestyles and cultural traditions out there, and no single one is necessarily better than any other.

This one is damn important in a world that tends to be so oppressive and discriminatory.

Visiting a foreign culture shows us that people live in ways that are very different from what we’re used to, and they get by just fine.

It shows us that there is an immense amount of diversity in the world, and that diversity is what makes the world such a gorgeous and interesting place.

It also teaches us that our humanity binds us all together. We all share the same passion, hope, and fear beneath the exterior differences.

Embracing these things and learning to love diversity is something that so many people in the world desperately need to do today. It’s essential to creating a more peaceful planet to pass on to our children.

So visit a foreign country, and learn about a foreign people. Open your arms and your mind to everyone. Please.

Realization #5: It is through doing and taking action that we gain our greatest satisfaction.

We live in a culture of lethargy.

Sedentary people are everywhere, frittering away their time on the sofa and in front of the TV.

I’ve been there. I’ve gone through periods of time where I’ve been lazy during every free minute. But you know what? It’s not fulfilling to live in that way.

There’s much more to be gained in life than the most comfortable easy chair, the biggest HDTV, and the maximum amount of free time to use them.

Traveling to a foreign country opens your eyes to the power of taking action, of getting out in the world and really living it.

Raw, visceral experience is infinitely better than living your life on cushions looking at screens. You’ll realize this if you heed my advice and visit far-off lands.

Realization #6: Meeting a wide and diverse variety of people teaches us more about life and ourselves than almost anything.

I met a lot of people in Spain — people from all over the world.

And it was so refreshing, enlightening, and humbling in myriad ways.

It’s so damn easy to fall into the trap of making a close group of friends and spending time with only those people for most of your life.

But we miss out on so much when we do that. We miss out on galaxies of potential kinship that can burn, burn, burn in our hearts like an inferno and inspire us to unthinkable heights.

I am blessed to have friends of many nationalities, backgrounds, lifestyles, and belief systems. They teach me so much about myself and bring me tremendous joy.

And I refuse to stop there. I’d like to have friends from every country. I’d like to be friends with the entire world. I actually try to think of myself as everyone’s friend — they just don’t all know it yet. That way, every stranger becomes a friend waiting to happen.

Realization #7: There are kind people all over the world. Kindness, compassion, and respect are endlessly powerful.

Perhaps the most uplifting part of going to Spain was seeing just how many kind and generous people were living on the other side of the world.

I was blown away by how willing people were to help out a goofy, confused foreigner. I also knew from the get-go that I wasn’t going to bridge any cultural gaps by being a cold, stuck-up prick.

Instead, I smiled and nodded and conversed animatedly and did everything I could to exude friendliness and warmth. When I did that, people reciprocated it. People sensed my genuine respect for them.

Sincerity and kindness are universal languages. It’s incredible what walls we can dismantle in seconds with a compassionate attitude.

Seriously, Go Do It

I can try to capture in words the experience of traveling to a foreign country.

I can tell you it was a marvelous, rock-and-rolling adventure. I can liken it to a freeing voyage beneath stars I hadn’t fully appreciated.

I can tell you how I’m applying to teach English abroad in South Korea in a few months because I feel that strongly about the power of living in a foreign country.

I can jabber all day, but I won’t be able to communicate the experience. You have to find out for yourself.

And you know, you can. You (yes, you) really can do this and a whole mess of other things you don’t believe you can do.

So take the leap of faith. Leave the known behind and dive into the unknown.

No one can guess what you might find, and you won’t know either, until you go.

You want it, don’t you? Well make it happen.

And tell me the story. I love a good story.

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― Augustine of Hippo

P.S. Would you take two seconds to ‘like’ Refine The Mind on Facebook to stay in the know? Thanks, friend.

The post An Impassioned Plea: Why Traveling Abroad Will Be the Best Decision of Your Life appeared first on Refine the Mind.

It’s what we’re all after, right? (At least that’s what I’m told.) But what is it? What do you imagine when you think of happiness?

Perhaps you conjure up notions of a distant beach-side setting, endless relaxation, a gourmet meal, and fine wine flowing like the Thames.

At the very least, if you are invested in traditional notions of happiness, some form of leisure probably comes to mind — some comfortable scenario devoid of all bad feeling.

In this post, I’m going to propose that we must disband ourselves from this ideal of happiness. We must recognize it as a lackluster, mind-dulling destination that cannot truly exist.

Photo Credit: Ethan Hickerson (Creative Commons)

Understanding Our False Ideal of Happiness

When we dream of happiness, we dream of a place that is free of suffering — a place without anxiety, guilt, mood swings, and melancholy.

Considering our own lives, we anticipate the day when our worries and mental battles will subside — a day when a golden age of purely positive mental states can ensue, a day when we cease to have any reason to feel sorrow, tension, and pain.

I don’t wish to upset any of you, but this is a mythical place. It is a place our society would like us to believe exists — a pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow that we reach when we’ve accumulated enough wealth and security.

However, no amount of comfortable luxury or perceived security will ever result in the realization of this ideal. Why? Because of a law of life that can be summed up in one word: flux.

Flux — meaning transience or change — is all life knows. Our moods, our assets, our liabilities, our relationships, and all other conditions of our existence will never remain constant, despite what our cultural ideal would have us believe.

Death, disaster, disease, unforeseen misfortune, conflict, heartbreak, and the anxieties of day-to-day life will always persist and disrupt what we often think of as happiness or peace.

And you know what? This is a good thing. What we imagine to be happiness is a dreadfully boring proposition. Endless calm or joy or brightness of mind may sound like heaven-on-earth, but we would soon grow accustomed to this state and lose our sense of it being something extraordinary.

We need contrasting emotions to feel their poignancy.

It’s okay that this traditional notion of happiness is boring and mythical, because a true and deeper state of being can still be found. I wish to argue that our greatest satisfaction as humans lies not in constancy, but in transformation.

Growth. Higher knowledge. The attainment of superior states of being. Whatever you want to call it, we can find unparalleled riches and fulfillment by becoming something different than what we were previously.

And though it may seem counter-intuitive, the route to this satisfaction is through discomfort. It is the tumultuous, rocky, unsexy, often infuriating, and crushing periods of life that reveal to us our true worth.

So am I saying happiness doesn’t exist? Well no, but I am suggesting that we would be wise to re-formulate our popular notion of what it looks like.

Re-formulating Happiness

If the flux of life will always prevent our ideal of perpetual positive mental states, what might happiness look like?

If our greatest satisfaction can be discovered only through times of suffering, is there room for happiness?

I think yes, there is. But it’s a bizarre sort of happiness, a kind that doesn’t at first sound very promising.

True happiness lies in being able to accept, embrace, and even laugh at our pain.

Our aim should be to understand our pain as a necessary result of the flux of life and an essential precursor to our growth — to the manifestation of superior degrees of consciousness.

We can be thankful for our suffering. We must come to see it as our ally, the driving force of our ability to experience new perspectives, deeper compassion, and unknown reserves of strength and resilience that reside within us.

Only then can we laugh at our pains. Only then can we play with the paradox of them — that what seems to be the obvious reaction to pain (the desire to eliminate it) is contrary to happiness.

We shouldn’t resist our pain. We should be thankful that it exists to mold us into more than we knew we could become. That isn’t to say that some people don’t experience undeserved and sickening degrees of pain — they do, and those of us who are more fortunate should help them.

The point is to realize that the pain will not cease. You can resist and resent it and grow bitter. Or you can dance with it, channel the energies it provokes from you, and grow stronger.

This should be our aim — to embrace and bask in the flux of life. To see our pain and smile at a friend in disguise.

When we can do this, we can weather the mightiest storm. Many of our daily sufferings become infinitely more bearable. We can heave a sigh of relief. Happiness was there all along. It was just a matter of perspective, of wisdom.

Ways to Accept and Embrace Pain

1. Wisdom of Transience — One comforting thought for me in the midst of my most profound sufferings — heartbreak, death of loved ones, deep depression, maddening anxiety — has been the old adage that “this too shall pass”. Transience will always bring new pains, but it will also always bring new beginnings, reconciliation, and new hope. You must have faith in this concept and remember it on your darkest days.

2. Absurdity of the Causes — Often, our pains are irrational. We fret unnecessarily about whether someone likes us, whether we can talk in front of people, whether we can complete all of our tasks. Many of these day-to-day pains are trivial. That doesn’t mean our subjective negative feelings of them are not very real, but we can diminish those feelings by concentrating on being rational. Focus intentionally on the foolish nature of your fear, anger, or sadness. Laugh at the stupidity and insignificance of the causes.

3. Worst Case Scenario — Many of our pains result from our imagining results different from those for which we hope. We tend to love control. But, I find it useful to consider the worst thing that could happen — people laugh at you, you get a bad grade, you get fired, someone stops talking to you? Most of the time, the worst case scenario would not be an earth-shattering tragedy. Recognize this often and proceed with the knowledge that few situations are life-or-death.

One Final Suggestion

“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

P.S. If this post taught you something or helped you to think about something in a new and useful way, show your support by “liking” Refine The Mind on Facebook here. I really appreciate it.

The post The Impossibility of Traditional “Happiness” (And How We Must Re-Define It) appeared first on Refine the Mind.

As social creatures, we are concerned, often to a fault, with whether or not we are enjoyed, appreciated, and respected by those around us. We pander to the whims of others, hoping to please everyone (or at least find few enemies).

We try to behave affably, make the correct remark, and laugh at the appropriate times, all for the sake of winning the fancy of our company. The approval of others becomes a top social priority and dictates many of our actions.

At some point or another, most of us succumb to this tendency to butter the rest of mankind’s bread, which is fine. It’s natural to do so. But, we must exercise caution.

You see, investing ourselves too fully into how others perceive us can have terrible consequences.

Photo Credit: Francisco Osorio (Creative Commons)

When We Care Too Much About Others’ Opinions of Us

People who frequently seek the attention and praise of others are looking for an external validation of themselves. They want something outside of them to deem them worthy, able, and good. Usually, this is because, at their core, they are filled with self-doubt.

So they do what they can to increase positive feedback and eliminate negative feedback. But here’s the problem with this way of thinking:

When we act in such a way that eliminates negative criticism, we also eliminate many, many possible lifestyles, actions, and directions from our realm of possibility. We become slaves to that which we believe others will approve.

This is a tragedy! Within all of us, there are numerous things we really, deeply wish we could do — travel the world, start a business, become a singer, etc. And guess what? The vast majority of us don’t do these things because we’re worried about what others will say or think.

We end up sacrificing our selves and our dreams to try to appease those around us. What a shame.

Furthermore, it has been well-documented in psychological research studies (like this one or this one) that social anxiety directly correlates to an exaggerated desire to increase validation from others and decrease criticism.

This means that the more you care about how others will react to what you do, the more likely you are to be socially discontented and uncomfortable.

Instead of suffering these consequences, we should adopt a different attitude.

Let’s Embrace Those Who Judge, Scoff, and Speak Ill of Us

Caring too much about what others think of you stifles your ability to take risks and disrupts your social satisfaction. The funny thing is — whether we invest energy into making others like us or not, there will always be people who don’t. 

Historically, many of the most loved people were also among the most hated while they were alive. Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, and John Lennon were all assassinated for spreading messages of love and understanding.

So, I’m suggesting that we’d all be much better off embracing those who will find reason to despise us. It’s so much easier to do this than to waste our lives allowing the faultfinders to dictate our actions.

Moreover, being disliked by people is actually a sign that you’re doing something worthwhile.

Being Disliked Means You Stand for Something

When you simply mimic the values of your current company, your opinion stops being yours. You become a hypocritical piece of clay, molding yourself constantly to try to fit in everywhere, and in doing so, retaining no shape to call your own.

Conversely, being courageous enough to be your own person, stand by your values, and live your own lifestyle (even if it isn’t popular) is empowering because you develop a strong identity. Gradually, you become satisfied and confident in your own skin.

Some people will dislike you for standing firmly by your ideals because they envy you. Spineless sourpusses can’t tolerate another person who does what they fear. Do not look down upon these people, but rather, aim to inspire them to live on their own terms.

Your Friends Will be True Friends

When your top priority is to gain the approval of everyone, you’re inviting people to befriend a sham. You’ve developed a façade disguising your complex, messy self. Most people won’t know the you that’s buried beneath, and you may begin to forget that person too.

On the other hand, habitually presenting your genuine, vulnerable, weird self does nothing but strengthen your acceptance of who you are. The people who call you friend will actually care about and believe in you, not some pretender.

How to Stop Caring So Much About Others’ Opinions

I may have convinced you that you shouldn’t care as much about what other people think, but perhaps you have no idea how to go about doing that. Here are a few tips.

1. Stop Playing the Critic – Before you’ll be able to care less about others criticizing you, you must do your best to stop criticizing people. Realize that the act of judging others reflects your own intolerance. By rising above the behavior yourself, you can realize how juvenile it is in the first place. Then, you will begin to see those who waste time and energy despising you or others as the small people that they are.

2. Take Minor Social Risks – Start doing a few things that you normally wouldn’t do because of your fear of what others would think or say. Dance wildly at a show, voluntarily speak up in class, wear something edgy. Doing little things such as these will help you to understand that disregarding your fear of judgment and rejection is liberating! Others may have given you a harsh glance or whispered haughtily to a friend, but it was okay. You’re okay, and you did it. Your fears may never entirely cease, but you will learn that acting in spite of them was more important. The more social risks you take, the less you will care. That’s the God-honest truth. (For more on this, read “The Adventuring Method and 6 Other Ways to Overcome Fear“)

3. Live by Your Deeper Values – Do you know what you stand for? If you’re still discovering the answer to this question, that’s okay. However, from a young age, we all develop some form of a conscience. We inherently sense what paths are right and wrong for us.  Start saying what you really feel and doing what you sense is right for you. We can create impenetrable self-esteem for ourselves by fighting diligently for the values that most deeply resonate with us. The more you seek to align your actions with what you feel in the heart of your being, the less you will invest in the opinions of the mud-flingers.

4. Focus on Actual Outcomes – If you’re feeling anxious or afraid of someone who may be directing condescending energy toward you, ask yourself: What is the worst thing that can come of this person’s distaste? What am I really afraid of? Usually, it’s nothing more than a bruised ego. In some cases (such as bullying, harassment, etc.), more severe damage can be inflicted, and action must be taken, but most of the time, we’re just afraid — afraid of not being the best, the smartest, the prettiest, the fastest, etc. It’s okay to not be these things. Each of us is best at being ourselves.

5. Love Your Good and Bad – Give yourself permission to not be the things you wish you could be. Embrace the fact that all of your qualities — both your boons and shortcomings — are essential to the equation that is you. As Kanye West once sang, “Everything I’m not made me everything I am.” Insults damage us most when we define ourselves based upon our perceived flaws. Take time out of your hectic life to count the ways in which you’re awesome, and embrace the not-so-awesome too. Or, if it’s simpler for you — realize that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are constructions of the mind. They don’t really exist. We just frame the world within the good-and-bad dichotomy because our minds naturally process things in this way.

One Word of Caution

Sometimes, people who dislike you have legitimate reason to do so. Being genuinely yourself doesn’t do much good if you are genuinely an ignorant prick who refuses to change anything. Don’t forget to keep an open mind to constructive criticism and realize you still have much to learn.

The goal should be to always be your own person while simultaneously working to be a better version of that person. It’s always going to be a work in progress, but no endeavor is more rewarding.

What Will This Mean for You?

This can mean about as much or as little for your life as you like. The message boils down to this: Your top priorities should be saying what you feel, doing what is right for you, and disregarding anyone who scorns you for it.

If you do this, more people may end up disliking you, but you will become a happier, better person for it in the end.

“Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.”
― Andy Warhol

“I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”
― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

P.S. Follow me on Twitter here. I tweet each weekly post, thought-provoking quotes, and more.

The post The Gorgeous Reality of Not Being Well-Liked by Everyone appeared first on Refine the Mind.

A great quotation, for me, can be a bite-size chunk of wisdom, the breeze of an unknown wind, a glimpse into a mind of genius, or an idea-seed that will prompt me to grow and re-invent myself and my view of the world.

Sometimes, reading quotations becomes almost therapeutic for me. I can lose myself in them — each one a miniature story — and alleviate the worries and stress that tend to accumulate in my mind.

And that’s why I want to share a few quotations with you. Here are 35 quotes that really speak to me in one way or another. Maybe they’ll speak to you as well.

Photo Credit: Paul Bica (Creative Commons)

“Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I’ll forgive Thy great big one on me.”
― Robert Frost

“This is the real secret of life  ― to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
― T.S. Eliot

“There is no passion to be found playing small ― in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
― Nelson Mandela

“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; I am large ― I contain multitudes.”
― Walt Whitman

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
― Oscar Wilde

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed.”
― Terence McKenna

“Everybody knows if you are too careful you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over something.”
― Gertrude Stein

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.”
― Albert Einstein

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
― Sigmund Freud

“Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.”
― Boris Pasternak

“I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.”
― John Steinbeck

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence – whether much that is glorious – whether all that is profound – does not spring from disease of thought – from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”
― Edgar Allan Poe

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”
― Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha

“Before you talk, listen.
Before you react, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.”
― Ernest Hemingway

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.”
― Allen Ginsberg

“Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.”
― Golda Meir

The post 35 Profound, Crowbar-esque Quotations to Pry Your Mind Open and Inspire You appeared first on Refine the Mind.

It might seem like you’ve been free to choose your own attitudes and ideas, but for most people, this isn’t really the case.

You see, in any society, there is a status quo — a current standard of the most popular ways of doing, thinking, and living.

The status quo begins working on you from an early age, molding the way you see the world. Even if your parents understand this and are anti-status quo, they still can’t protect you from its far-reaching influence.

This leads to the vast majority of people walking around with similar mentalities. Often times, these mentalities are antiquated, limiting, and downright absurd.

Photo Credit: Yogendra Joshi (Creative Commons)

How the Status Quo Conditions You

All of us are born into already-established societies with countless pre-existing conditions over which we have absolutely no control.

The conditions of a society may be beneficial for the general population or they may be entirely harmful.

In the case of the United States, capitalism and the desire for wealth have historically driven many of the societal conditions and mentalities of the general population.

Think about that for a second. Greed has been one of the most powerful forces in determining how people think and act in this country. 

Rather than compassion, kindness, and understanding, the primary engine of our nation’s development has been the accumulation of material objects.

The result of this can be plainly seen in any city in the country — people working, working, and working some more in pursuit of nicer clothes, a sexier ride, a bigger home, and a more lavish lifestyle.

And greed is only one example. The status quo penetrates deeply into all aspects of our lives, often with dire results.

Why do most of us fall in line with status quo ideals?

Because we see them everywhere! They’re blasting from the radio speakers, flashing on the TV screens, and being acted out by almost everyone around us.

The status quo, by definition, is extremely pervasive. Often times, we don’t even recognize that there are other ways of doing things because the status quo is all we’ve ever noticed.

Plus, it’s so darn easy to assimilate. All of us, by nature, want very badly to fit in and to be admired by our peers. The human brain is evolutionarily wired to resist behavior that risks alienation.

Breaking away from the tribe used to mean danger and death. So we quickly and unthinkingly submit to what is popular, instead of considering how doing so may have fatal consequences.

How the Status Quo is Perpetuated

You might be wondering, “If the status quo causes so much damage, why wouldn’t the leaders and thinkers in society change it for the better over time?”

A great question. The answer is that many try very hard to do so. Activists of all shapes and sizes are constantly trying to change things for the better. I’m doing so right now by writing this article.

But there’s a really big problem —  namely, the enormous collection of people who want things to stay precisely the way they are.

Perhaps the most dangerous of these people are the ones in power. In our society, “those in power” is nearly synonymous with “those with most of the money”.

You see, the status quo is always benefitting someone. Countless people leverage the status quo every day to turn a profit, and those people don’t want things to change.

So they buy out politicians, impose their messages upon products of popular culture (TV shows, songs, movies, etc.), and throw billions of dollars into advertising campaigns to keep you thinking in the way that profits them.

Apart from those who leverage the status quo for insane amounts of status, wealth, and power, there is another group that wants the status quo to be perpetuated as well — the mob (i.e. the vast majority of the population).

Look around. Do you see them? They’re everywhere. They’re your classmates, colleagues, neighbors, and fellow church-goers.

The status quo wouldn’t be the status quo if most people didn’t support it. The mob isn’t inherently evil. Unlike those in power who often have poisonous intentions, members of the mob usually don’t realize that they love the status quo.

Still, their actions and mentalities have insidious, coercive effects. This is, again, because of our evolutionary predisposition to want to assimilate with what we see our friends and peers doing.

We’re wired to think this: If most people believe something, it’s likely to be the truth. If most people do something, it’s likely to be the best way of doing it. 

So everyone around us who is acting out the status quo becomes a covert agent. If only subconsciously, you are being pressured constantly by everyone around you to conform to the ‘normal’ state of affairs.

And this causes problems. Because most people do conform, and the status quo carries on. Think of it as an enormous, self-sustaining beast possessing a complete indifference to how living the status quo might be harming a lot of people.

3 Status Quo Mentalities That Lead to Discontent

So now that you have a basic understanding of what the status quo is and how it is unceasingly being reinforced, I want to give you three examples of harmful status quo mentalities.

Here are 3 status quo ways of thinking that tend to stir up frustration and dissatisfaction throughout the general population.

Mentality #1: If someone is challenging your viewpoint, they’re wrong and you should react in a hostile manner.

When it comes to argumentation over any particular issue of disagreement, our society tends to believe that there is a right answer and a wrong answer.

Our school system tends to reinforce this way of thinking as well, but it is quite problematic. This is because most everyone tends to think that their opinion is correct, and so if someone disagrees with them, that person must be wrong.

And then we’re shown all of these messages in the media — on news programs, “reality” TV, and in pop music — that display individuals reacting hostilely to those who don’t agree with them.

So the status quo mentality becomes this: If someone disagrees with me, they’re wrong. F%$# them.

We see this way of thinking leading to troubling incidents nationwide all the time, on the micro and macro level — think bar fights, domestic disputes, petty obstinance leading to stalemates in Congress, etc.

Perhaps worse yet is the fact that this attitude leads to a general population that is hardly willing to revise their views about anything.

This is absolutely the opposite of the type of mentality that serves the cause of progress. A progressive individual recognizes that there are multiple ways to view any issue, and that there is almost never a cut-and-dry right or wrong answer.

Furthermore, when you react hostilely to those who disagree with you, you’re allowing anger to reside within. And, as I’ve explained before, anger most harms those who possess it. 

How to break out of it: Recognize that almost no issue is black-and-white. If someone disagrees with you, approach their opinion with an open mind. View it as a learning opportunity for both. Engage in a calm, rational discussion touching upon each party’s primary reasons for holding their view. Come to a consensus, or agree to disagree. Angry outbursts are avoided, and both parties walk away respecting one another and possessing a more complete understanding of the issue at hand.

Mentality #2: You should do something that you don’t enjoy now to do what you do enjoy later.

This is essentially the model on which this country has operated for 150 years: You will get a job and work for 40 years, so that one day you can retire and do whatever you want. And it will be just dandy!

It’s incredible how many individuals still buy into this type of thinking. Countless people are working jobs that they despise. Tons of students are majoring in something ‘safe’ and hating every second of it.

People cling to routines that leave them feeling depressed and empty because a) they’re afraid to try something new, b) they’re imagining a day when things will just magically get better, and/or c) they don’t necessarily realize they have other options.

But you do! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, because I firmly believe this. We live in a world with much more opportunity than ever before.

You have never had such freedom to pursue the interests that excite you and to do work that you’re passionate about. It might be a bit more risky or take a little more effort to put yourself in the situation to do so, but it will be rewarding to put in that effort if you care about what you’re working towards.

How to break out of it: Take a hard look at your current schedule/time commitments. How many of them do you actually enjoy? How many of them are allowing you to build skills relevant to your passion? If your answer is none, that’s okay. Everyone has to start somewhere. Slowly, do what you have to do to quit the time commitments that are draining you or to change them in a positive way. If you don’t know what you enjoy or are passionate about, experiment! Overbook yourself; try numerous, diverse things. You’ll discover areas of interest that you never would have guessed. Pursue those areas. You won’t regret it. Work can be play.

Mentality #3: If someone doesn’t conform to what most people consider ‘normal’, they’re weird and are to be shunned.

The status quo is all about upholding what is considered to be ‘normal’. Most everyone’s minds are filled with these notions of how a ‘normal’ person looks, acts, thinks, talks, etc.

People put ‘normal’ on a pedestal for the same reason that the mob loves the status quo: They crave acceptance. Most people cherish the existence of what is ‘normal’ because being ‘normal’ seems like a surefire way to fit in.

But when ‘normal’ becomes the goal, then anything that violates ‘normal’ often becomes the enemy.

This leads to judgment, gossip, and bullying. It inspires alienation, labeling, and name-calling. It causes hate crimes, school shootings, and suicides. People can be infinitely cruel to that which defies their expectation for what is ‘normal’.

And again, the people who are intolerant on behalf of what is ‘normal’ aren’t doing themselves any favors. Holding hateful feelings within is simply giving another person the power to push you to a negative mood/mental state.

Here’s the truth: The idea that normalcy could actually exist is ass-backwards in the first place. There is no such thing as ‘normal’. We’re all strange, quirky, and abnormal in so many ways, and it is not a bad thing.

Our strangeness and our difference are what make us individuals. They’re a part of our humanity. Humanity is diversity. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can put an end to all of the evil deeds committed on behalf of ‘normal’.

How to break out of it: Embrace diversity. Learn to celebrate the differences in people. Go out of your way to make friends of all backgrounds, lifestyles, and nationalities. Become more aware of your judgments of other people’s appearances, and actively resist making those judgments. This takes time and practice, but I urge you to work at it — it’s some of the most important work you can do to make the world a better place. (For more, read this post I wrote — “Embracing Diversity: The Key to a Peaceful World”.)

Final Thoughts: How to Beat The Status Quo

As I’ve stressed in this post, the status quo is all around us all the time. Sometimes it can be difficult to notice because we’re so caught up in it.

Let this post be a wake-up call. Start paying more attention. Hopefully, the examples I listed have given you an idea of the types of problems that are caused by status quo mentalities.

The best thing that we can do to oppose the status quo is this:

Learn to recognize it as often as possible and actively resist the urge to mindlessly support it.

I stress the word “mindlessly” because I don’t think the status quo is always a bad thing. In many cases, the status quo isn’t harming anyone.

However, in some cases, as I hope I’ve demonstrated, the status quo can be among the most devious of villains. The point is to become aware of why you think and act the way you do and how your thoughts and actions are affecting your life and the lives of other people, for better or worse.

You should consider these things often and try to arrive at your own conclusions about how to live, think, and act. You might find this to be quite liberating. Often, we aren’t aware of the shackles of the status quo until we experience the freedom of casting them off.

So what do you say? Are you with me? Let’s do our part to shift the status quo. Let’s band together to challenge the norms that lead to unnecessary suffering. Let’s pass on a better world to our children’s generation.

I believe in this mission and fight for it every day. Will you?

“I hate a Roman named Status Quo!” he said to me. “Stuff your eyes with wonder,” he said, “live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,” he said, “shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.”
― Ray Bradbury

P.S. Signing up for free updates is about as awesome as a tribe of banjo-playing, technicolor orangutans surfing on a rainbow.

Also, Refine The Mind now has a subreddit community! Subscribe and join us at /r/RefineTheMind.

The post 3 Status Quo Mentalities That Lead to Widespread Discontent appeared first on Refine the Mind.

Reddit.com is a magical place — a place to laugh, to gaze, to learn, to share, and to converse.

For those who are unaware, Reddit is a social news and entertainment website where users (known as Redditors) submit content in the form of a link or text. Other Redditors then “upvote” or “downvote” content that has been submitted.

Upvoted content (articles, discussions, images, etc.) rises to the top of various “subreddits” (niche-centered sub-communities), making it more easily found and widely read.

The awesomeness of Reddit lies in this simple system. Communities of actual users decide, via popular vote, which submissions are worthwhile and which are not.

This setup has proved extraordinarily effective.

Reddit is now one of the most reliable Internet destinations to quickly discover valuable and relevant content related to countless specific areas of interest. Just ask the 400 million people who visited the site last year.

Photo Credit: Eva Blue (Creative Commons)

The Biggest Problem With Reddit

There’s just one glaring problem.

When a non-registered person visits Reddit, they see only content from a core group of the most popular subreddits — /r/aww, /r/pics, /r/funny, etc.

And when a new user registers for the site, he/she is automatically subscribed only to this core group of subreddits as well.

There is nothing inherently wrong with these subreddits. In fact, they’re often filled with delightful content.

Here’s the issue:

This system leads to the majority of Reddit users never (or rarely) straying from the core group of subreddits.

And while the core subreddits are great in some ways, they’re also the worst in other ways. Consider that:

1) They’re over-saturated with millions of users, which leads to lower quality discussions.
2) The content tends to be the type that you can view very quickly, then move on.
3) They don’t cater to your more specialized interests.

The bulk of Redditors who don’t really stray from these primary subreddits are doing themselves a disservice. They aren’t even beginning to harness the awesome power of Reddit.

The Secret to Harnessing the Power of Reddit

The truly wonderful thing about Reddit is its potential as a tool for learning, thinking, growing, and connecting with like-minded people.

Most people just lurk on Reddit and use it as a shallow form of entertainment, but it can become so much more than that.

When you begin to dabble beyond the realm of the core group of subreddits, you find that there are literally thousands of lesser-known, spectacular subreddit communities.

For almost anything you could ever want to know about,  a community of Redditors is waiting for you to find them (Tip: RedditSpy is a useful tool for finding new subreddits.).

Basically, Reddit can offer you a personalized experience unlike any other — an aggregation of only the best content from all of the communities that interest you.

The good news is that taking advantage of Reddit in this way is very simple. Here’s what to do:

1) Unsubscribe from any subreddits in the core group that aren’t your favorites.
2) Subscribe to 15+ subreddits that specifically interest you.
3) Start winning.

This doesn’t take long, and you’ll be glad you took the time. Quite suddenly, your Reddit experience can improve tenfold.

Mine definitely did. Customizing my subreddit subscriptions transformed Reddit from a distraction to a place of fun learning (Yes, learning can be fun.).

Nowadays, Reddit is my favorite online destination. I actively contribute to discussions. I find motivation and inspiration all the time. I learn new things every day.

It’s downright bodacious. And that’s why I wanted to write this post — to share with you how much better Reddit can be.

37 Mind-Expanding Subreddits

With that, I thought I’d compile a list of some of my favorite subreddits. These subreddits have proved helpful and thought-provoking for me, so I suspect some of you may benefit from them as well.

Personal Development

1. /r/ZenHabits

Originally created by a group of about a dozen bloggers, /r/ZenHabits is a community that shares links to blog posts related to several categories — motivation, productivity, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and general self-improvement. A lot of solid content here.

2. /r/DecidingToBeBetter

Another self-improvement subreddit with plenty of excellent content. This subreddit is an offshoot of an actual website. The motto is, “A force for self-improvement, goodness and togetherness that helps humanity to eliminate evil”.

3. /r/SelfImprovement

Yet another inspiring community of Redditors, /r/SelfImprovement is a compendium of content related to improvement in all aspects of life.

4. /r/HowToNotGiveAFuck

Despite its potentially offensive name, /r/HowToNotGiveAFuck is a supportive community centered around this idea: Our attachments to people, ideas, objects, etc. cause much of our distress. This is a place to share advice to “stop giving a fuck” and thus live a more peaceful life.

5. /r/GetMotivated

I couldn’t make this list without including the “wolves” (some subreddits have mascots) of /r/GetMotivated. This subreddit is dedicated to giving and receiving motivation in all forms, and you know what? It’s the real deal — the pinnacle of motivating subreddits I’ve come across.

6. /r/GetDisciplined

This subreddit is an ideal counterpart to the previous one. Maybe you’re motivated, but you can’t seem to find the discipline to get things done. /r/GetDisciplined can help. (Note: /r/GetDisciplined allows text posts only.)

7. /r/Productivity

If you’re a procrastinator or just feel you could be more productive, you may benefit from subscribing to this subreddit. Its sole mission is to provide tips and tricks to increase productivity.

8. /r/Frugal

If you’re someone who values saving money, this is a subreddit you’ll probably find beneficial. /r/Frugal is a place to share tips, strategies, and anecdotes related to spending less of your hard-earned cash.

Academic Subjects

9. /r/Psychology

/r/Psychology is a community dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the mind. This subreddit focuses on scientific findings and legitimate research. I always seem to find intriguing reading material here.

10. /r/Economics

As is the case with many subreddits, the title of this one is rather self-explanatory. I believe everyone should possess a rudimentary understanding of this social science. /r/Economics is a useful place to begin.

11. /r/Literature

/r/Literature is self-defined as “a community for deeper discussions of plays, poetry, short stories, and novels than what you might find in /r/Books.” If you study literature or are just curious to learn more about it, subscribe to this community.

12. /r/History

Everyone should know more about history. This subreddit can help you do just that. People constantly share links to fascinating facts and stories from the past.

13. /r/AskHistorians

Have a specific question about the past? Ask it here, and an expert will answer it. Thousands of others have questions too, and new ones are posted all the time. Another great source to gain further insight into what came before us.

14. /r/AskScience

This subreddit is a place to ask anything science-related. Experts from dozens of fields are members of this community, so you can expect knowledgeable answers. People come up with brilliant questions to ask here, and others provide equally brilliant answers. A very educational subreddit.

15. /r/Philosophy

/r/Philosophy is a subreddit for discussions of “the academic discipline of philosophy, philosophical problems, the history of philosophy, information on particular philosophers, and so on”. If philosophy interests you, this subreddit will as well.

(Note: There are subreddits for almost any academic subject imaginable. These are just a few of my favorites.)

Insightful Reading Material

16. /r/FoodForThought

/r/FoodForThought is dedicated to sharing “longform articles and essays that stimulate intellectual discourse”. You’ll find any number of topics and themes represented here, with the common denominator being that everything is meant to make you think.

17. /r/TrueReddit

Subtitled “Reddit as it is meant to be”, this subreddit focuses on sharing only “really great, insightful articles”. And the community is quite successful at doing just that. Topics are wide-ranging, but the content is consistently interesting.

18. /r/DepthHub

/r/DepthHub is a unique subreddit in that it only allows submissions from within Reddit. The goal of /r/DepthHub is to collect the best discussions/submissions from around Reddit in one place. Personally, I love this subreddit. Through it, I’ve found innumerable concise and illuminating explanations of situations and phenomena of all kinds.

19. /r/ExplainLikeImFive

The idea of this community makes me chuckle, but it’s super valuable, nonetheless. /r/ExplainLikeImFive is a place for people to pose questions about anything they want and receive answers that a five-year-old could understand. A boatload of clearly stated answers here.

Get Support

20. /r/Anxiety

If you suffer from an abnormal amount of anxiety or an anxiety disorder, this subreddit could be a godsend. A tight-knit community of empathetic individuals helping each other to cope.

21. /r/Depression

In the same vein as the one prior, /r/Depression is a community of support for individuals who are plagued by varying degrees of depression. These people are understanding and genuinely wish to aid one another.

Books and Quotes

22. /r/Books

“Book reviews, recommendations, stories about books, or book technology.” If you enjoy reading/words/books, this place shall prove a refreshing haven.

23. /r/QuotePorn

I love reading quotations. I often find quote gems that are packed with wisdom. If you feel the same way, subscribe to /r/QuotePorn. It is a place for people to share nothing but excellent quotes.

24. /r/Quotes

/r/Quotes is the same type of subreddit as /r/QuotePorn. The only difference is that many people link to banners and images which contain quotes on /r/QuotePorn, whereas /r/Quotes sticks to text submissions.

Video

25. /r/TED

A subreddit devoted entirely to “spreading, discussing, and implementing the ideas espoused by the worldwide TED conferences”. If you’re a fan of TEDTalks (like me), this subreddit is a dandy.

26. /r/Interview

This subreddit believes that interviews often contain curious and unexpected peaks into the lives of others. I tend to agree.

27. /r/Documentaries

/r/Documentaries is precisely what it sounds like: A place to share and discover documentary films. For me, documentaries tend to be some of the most entertaining parcels of knowledge. I watch them often. Maybe you will too.

Aesthetically Pleasing

28. /r/Art

A community of artists and art enthusiasts sharing “their favorite pieces, news, or information that will impact the art community”. Many people share their own work on this subreddit, and I am often blown away by the artwork of my fellow Redditors. Very cool and inspiring, if you’re into art.

29. /r/EarthPorn

If you’re into the natural world and the biodiversity of our planet, this will be a delicious subreddit for you. All posts are links to beautiful images of different places on our planet.

30. /r/SpacePorn

Similar to /r/EarthPorn, /r/SpacePorn is on a mission to bring you high resolution images of outer space. Modern technology allows us to peer into distant space with more clarity than ever before, and it’s quite mind-boggling to see what else is out there.

Religion

31. /r/Buddhism

/r/Buddhism is filled with caring people sharing valuable wisdom. People often have a misconception that studying other religions means they’re being disloyal to their current belief system. This is not the case. Religious teachings are packed with useful insight, and I’ve found Buddhism to be particularly enlightening. Rather than emphasizing a deity you should worship, Buddhism focuses much more on how to live peacefully and reduce suffering.

32. /r/Taoism

Taoism is another Eastern religion that is related to Buddhism but differs in some regards. The /r/Taoism community is a generous group of individuals who share great content.

Miscellaneous

33. /r/YouShouldKnow

This subreddit is educational and entertaining. The community is dedicated to sharing “obscure things that most people should already be aware of, but aren’t.”

34. /r/Futurology

This is a subreddit dedicated to the study of the future. The objective is to step outside of our narrow window of perspective to examine and speculate about the future of humanity. Most posts are focused on new technology and societal structures.

35. /r/Offbeat

“Offbeat posts should be either: funny, weird, sad, strange or quirky news that’s just….just offbeat .” You will find some of the most outrageous news stories on this subreddit. They’re often quite entertaining and thus make good reading material.

36. /r/Fascinating

/r/Fascinating is a subreddit on a mission to curate fascinating content about any number of topics. They do a fine job.

37. /r/LifeProTips

I had to include this classic subreddit. /r/LifeProTips is a place for Redditors to share bite-size “pro tips” for life. Start making your life easier by subscribing to this one.

Go Forth and Reddit

You should now possess a clearer idea of how you can be utilizing Reddit to its fullest potential.

I realize that many of you probably already knew “the secret to harnessing Reddit’s power” and had subscribed to many of these subreddits long ago. If so, much of this may have seemed elementary.

I apologize if that was the case and hope you were still able to learn something new. This post is intended for those who are not veteran Redditors and need a bit of guidance.

Whatever your level of experience, I think we can agree that Reddit is a magnificent land of all things worth seeing/knowing on the Interwebz. Let’s use it intelligently and keep it that way.

P.S. What other subreddits do you visit often? Leave a comment in the ‘Speak Your Mind’ section below.

Also, if you enjoyed this post, do me a favor by ‘liking’ Refine The Mind on Facebook here. Much appreciated.

The post Harness the Power of Reddit: 37 Mind-Expanding Subreddits appeared first on Refine the Mind.