If I Knew Then

One of the skills we’ve recently learned in group is Wise Mind. Everyone has two types of minds they normally work with. Reasonable Mind is cool, rational, and task-focused. This is the mind we problem solve with. On the positive side, this can offer us the ability to create a plan to solve whatever our problem may be and have effective results. The negative side of it is that we may offer solutions that may hurt us in the end or are ineffective. For example, deciding to pull an all nighter may be a good idea to finish your homework, but it makes us lack sleep.

Our emotional mind is driven by moods and emotions. In this state of mind, you are ruled by your emotions and feelings, with facts and reasoning lacking. Positive sides of emotional mind is allowing yourself to feel emotions. The negative side is you can end up burning bridges or isolating yourself because you’re caught up in emotions and not thinking ahead.

Wise mind is what we call when we incorporate both reasonable mind and emotional mind. Thinking in terms of a Venn diagram, wise mind would be in the middle. This allows us to use both reason and emotions, joining our left and right brain. An example of wise mind is being able to acknowledge and validate your feelings but use logic to solve whatever is bothering you.

Wise mind allows us to thinking non-judgmentally and mindfully. We all have the capacity for wisdom by integrating our reasonable and emotional mind. Sometimes when we are upset we may wrongfully interpret our feelings. The first feeling we feel may not be what we actually mean. Sometimes we get angry when in reality we are just sad. Wise mind allows us to take a step back and analyze our feelings to better understand them and alleviate them.