The mind is man’s greatest asset. He has been given the power to think and form ideas freely. This capability made him superior to the other living species around him. The mind has the ability to think and generate thoughts. When it is provided with any stimulus, it responds by pondering upon that stimulus.
It was Leonardo Da Vinci who said that:
“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets”.
It was said by Warren Buffett that:
“The greatest investment a young person can make is in their own education, in their own mind. Because money comes and goes. Relationships come and go. But what you learn once stays with you forever.”
Learning as a Fuel for the Mind:
Learning is a process of obtaining information, processing it, thinking about it, forming new questions about it and then implementing the results. When a child is in school, he feels that learning is just a burden. He has to pile his head with a bunch of information and thus he feels that learning is an exhausting process, but this is not entirely true. While learning is not easy, it requires one to concentrate on the task at hand, it also does not exhaust the mind. The mind is always open to new ideas but it is rather the fact that a lot of energy is required by the child in order to focus, thus exhausting him.
According to Swami Vivekananda:
“Mind you, there is no value in learning. You are all mistaken in learning. The only value of knowledge is in the strengthening, the disciplining, of the mind.”
Learning as an Experience:
Learning is an experience. They say that the world is currently running by the challenge of survival of the fittest. And it might just be the knowledge gained through learning that could be the greatest weapon one could ever hold. For it is said that the brains can even defeat the brawns, it only depends on how much a person learns.
As Albert Einstein said:
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”
The mind is always welcoming new ideas. It helps man view life in different ways, in new ways. The mind is a curious organ. It always lusts for knowledge. It hopes to grasp knowledge any way possible. It calls out for it. It stings the human, when he finds out about something he had no information about. So the mind helps him attain information and scrutinize it.
Brian Tracy suggested that:
“Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you will ever have is your mind and what you put into it”.
The Door of the Mind:
The door of the mind is always open, to any information that wants to go in. The mind welcomes new information for it replenishes it, it finally quenches its thirst for more knowledge. The mind does not get tired of this. It is more than happy to be able to learn. More like, it was created to do so, so it would be stupid to keep the brain rusted.
As Bill Watterson pointed out:
“A playful mind is inquisitive, and learning is fun. If you indulge your natural curiosity and retain a sense of fun in new experience, I think you’ll find it functions as a sort of shock absorber for the bumpy road ahead.”
Final Point:
In the end, the mind should not be underestimated, or rather its learning capacity. It is merely foolish to believe that learning could ever exhaust one’s mind. It is actually quite the opposite. It helps the mind process better and think more rationally. The mind is not a closed shell. It is an open entity. Processing different body functions at the same time. It would be wise not to underestimate its capacity.
According to Haile Selassie:
“There is nothing as precious to man as a sound mind in a sound body and it is essential that the physical well-being of our people merits as much attention as its spiritual welfare.”
