No distinctions, no mind to distinguish and so we distinguish ourselves and make the distinctions between me and you and us and you. And we feel pride in being different, being unique, having a unique issue that we address in our lives and the world out there provides for all the unique needs ? tailor-made. And then we come to the daily routine and daily living ? and what do we do? We do the opposite. We classify just about everything and place them in boxes. We give them names and handle things according to the class they belong to. All because our minds operate from a framework of knowledge we call this belief system. Call it experience, call it programming, call it what you like ? but we go around experiencing life and making decisions, judgements and distinctions based on what we have accumulated in our minds up to that point.

We regard ourselves as normal, just because ?society? has decided that our behavior and thinking falls within the boundaries of its comfortable place. Dare we move outside that comfortable place, and then we are labeled with nice, long, ugly labels, like Alzheimer?s schizophrenia, senile dementia. We are then taken to doctors, treated, given pills and the like that controls the ?abnormality?.

Our minds create the world around us, we think long enough on a topic and we draw it into our lives and it manifests. The more we ponder on something, the sooner it becomes real. Why, for instance, are we scared of the crime rate ? because we expect it, give it attention and make it happen. Why do we remain poor, because all we ever say is ?I do not have enough?. We make our own reality out of the ?illusion? that we call the world.

Our minds go wandering into the depths of meditation, prayer and pondering. Our minds can take us anywhere and we can experience anything we want, right there in the chair where we are. We enter the worlds of angels and spirit guides and enjoy healing, fun and exuberance. We fight and kill and murder ? all in the mind. Mind over matter means if you don?t mind it, it does not matter. Differently put: if it matters, you have given it enough ?mind?.

Where do they go, these people with dementia, is it the same place I go when I meditate? How am I born? How do I give reality to someone else, whose reality is the creation of their own minds. Whose world is the real world?

If we consider the mind on its own, without the brain and its chemicals ? it is a wonderful place where we all live in harmony, happily, peaceful and filled with abundance. Then we add the chemicals and the stuff we eat. All of which can change our minds ? a hyperactive child becomes a zombie. Or does it just override the normal mind of that irritated child ? who in turn is only reacting to the ?reality? presented to it by the ?normal? world.

Why must I be normal? So that you can remain in your comfort zone! We do ?hate?, we do ?rage?, but ?uncomfortable? we avoid like the plague. We all want to belong, so we make rules for what is normal and what is abnormal and when we put all the teachers, parents, pastors and doctors together we have a formidable team to ensure that we stay there where they are comfortable with us.

Has the term MAD been coined to keep us in comfort, have we ever dared to explore the mind of the ?mad? person that is with us? Do we have the patience and love to allow them their own reality, the world that they have created for themselves in their own minds.

What is depression? Losing hope, feeling hopeless? Or is it the inner temper of an unfulfilled mind. Is it giving up in the face of non-understanding, non-bending, non-acceptance of the mind we have? And what is joy? What thoughts have we been feeding our minds that can take us out of that deep hole so quickly that we have exuberance in our hearts (minds?) What are we feeding ourselves, what are we thinking and do we really expect the ?normal? world out there to understand our reality?

I must be mad!

Ref: Wilma Van Der Walt (Dr)