Mental, the thinking, the logical, the rational. I use the image of thinking of our 4 areas of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual as if they are the 4 wheels on our car. A vehicle needs all 4 wheels and needs all 4 wheels balanced and functioning in order to go forward.
Historically, there has been a huge conflict with male and female roles around the feeling vs thinking areas, frequently labeling one of them as “better, or right”. In reality it is a BOTH –AND, not an EITHER –OR. Both feeling and thinking are essential in our lives. They are both essential “feedback loops” to give us information on what decisions and actions to take that will work best for us. If we ignore our feelings, we are leaving our hearts out of the equation. This can lead to immense pain and depression, feeling very unfulfilled in our lives. However, if we leave the mind out, we can make some very poor decisions. It would be like putting the 4 yr old in charge of our lives. Our feelings need to get filtered through our minds, to identify options, evaluate each, make a wise choice that is in the best interest for all concerned.
It is our minds that allows us to be pro-active rather than re-active. This can save us and others a lot of heartache.
There can be a real joy in learning. The curious mind stays young. My mother is currently heading toward 101 in age. Her mind is still so curious, so eager to learn, to open to seeing things new ways, so fascinated with what is going on around her. She LOVES her ipad and googles everything, eager to share with others what she is learning. It is a joy and an inspiration to witness.
However, like the other 3 areas, if this is out of balance, if this is the only inflated tire, the car doesn’t work. The relationships are deprived and empty. This needs balance just like the other three. That is the tricky part. We each have one of these 4 that is “easy” and “natural” for us. Then we each have a weakest one, the one that gets neglected because we each tend to “play to our strengths”.
Awareness of our strong one and our weak one gives us choices and options. We each need to strive to bring the weaker one into balance, giving it more air and more attention. We need to be careful with our strong one, that it isn’t given too much attention, too much air, or it can blow up and turn on us, where our strength now is our weakness, if it isn’t in balance.
