The same drive that causes a person to get a face tattoo and proudly show it off, may cause that person to feel shame and embarrassment years later. The power of the human mind can give us the power to be content, miserable, or apathetic about the same exact situation. While I hear the song “Semi Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind playing on the speakers at a restaurant and get excited about what I deem as the best song in recorded history, others at the table may casually respond with, “Yeah, I liked that song in high school”.

If I won two free tickets to the Super Bowl, I wouldn’t be excited at all. I would give them away. But I’m sure there would be plenty of people willing pay me decent money for them.

My mind is powerful enough to limit my happiness if something goes wrong; something as little as missing the right exit on the interstate. I can be bummed about that for an hour if I let myself, sometimes. If only I was powerful enough to convince my mind that it really doesn’t matter, I could be happy instead. There is truth to being able to choose happiness over despair. It all goes back to my dad’s theory of mind-over-matter: “If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.