Monday; September 14
Earlier in my life, when I reflected on the phrase “mind games” I typically thought about what other people were doing to me. In my mind, these games were an attempt to influence me to get what they wanted. As I have grown older, I am beginning to realize that the largest player of games in my mind is me. I play many more games with myself than anyone else. What I find interesting is that the games I play with myself are often set up to defeat me. Often, they are construed in such a way that they are all but unwinnable. I convince myself of the worst possible outcomes. My inner voice talks enough trash that I lose hope. I set goals so high that there is little reasonable hope of attaining them – and that translates as a loss. As I thought about this the other day, I got to wondering why I don’t play mind games that are winnable. I am the one who sets the ground rules, why not use the home field to my advantage? By...