The Undefeated Mind

“There is nothing quite like trying life without an attachment to help us appreciate that we still have it.” ~ Alex Lickerman, MD

Ahhh…Attachments! We all have them. Some attachments we enjoy, while other attachments we prefer to get rid of. Nonetheless, all attachments we must learn to do without, especially because they can be removed at any time. And if they are, will your internal spirit be prepared to survive?

Dr. Alex Lickerman goes on a journey of an internal and external self-discovery mission for his patients. He chronicles how he learned to infuse his personal experiences in combination with modern medicine and ancient wisdom to provide healing inside and out. By first mastering the mind, Dr. Lickerman provides life changing insight on how to find inner strength through difficult times. He delivers an impeccable word on strategies to cope through adversity in ten effective chapters that will not only challenge internal personal reflection but can spark insight on how often we fight against our own personal introspection.

I ran across this novel as I became more intrigued with psychology. I wanted to learn more about the who, what, where, when, and why of the internal mind as it is such a fascinating tool. To sit back and sometimes ponder on the way people think often fascinates me; and with that realization, I wanted to have a deeper dialog within my own internal ANOMALY.

With these changing and chaotic times, I felt there was no better way to kick off the “Book Nook” section with The Undefeated Mind, by Alex Lickerman, MD. COVID-19 will forever change our lives as we know it. In my lifetime, I have never personally witnessed anything with this much upheaval that has affected me in all facets of my life. Yes, September 11th, 2001 was life altering and certainly placed our world in a very precarious situation. But this feels different, it even looks different, but despite the contrast and uncertainty for me, my goal is to continue to find and focus on the silver lining.

In Chapter 8, Dr. Lickerman chronicles how to focus on appreciating the good. I will admit that is extremely hard to do when uncertainty lies before you. As COVID-19 moves through our world with catastrophic intentions, our new reality is making us face our dangerous love affair with attachments. Without warning, some of our precious “beloved” have parted ways. Some temporarily, some terminally. Beloved can be defined in different aspects. For some, your favorite bar may be your beloved, for others your big brother, cousin, or mother may be your beloved. No matter how your beloved defines you, Dr. Lickerman highlights that, “The one problem with imagining the loss of our most beloved attachments as a way to generate gratitude is that the better we are at it, the more likely we are not to feel gratitude, but anxiety.”

Yep, gratitude! How do we see our lives in the empty spaces that is pandemic has created? How can we look through this situation with the lens of opportunity? Many of our social outlets are no longer providing the current that we need to provide energy in our lives. However, we are still expected to survive. Restaurants and bars are closed, the gym is no longer jumping, even the movie theaters have closed their curtains; and as a matter of fact, the show must NOT go on, on Broadway. But despite our existing change in EVERYTHING, I challenge you to find the value in the void that this virus will bring.

The removal of our attachments has forced us to do without. The beauty in that reality is that it forces us to go within. And when you can handle going within, you discover that there are so many things that you may and can, do without. Imagine life without it or them. In that imagining, feel gratitude for the pleasure that their presence currently brings you. Social- Distancing? Focus on that long overdue time to reflect and spend time with self, while also appreciating the times when you enjoy being social. Can’t visit a love one due to possible exposure? Value the relationship that you share and be assured that if you never physically see them again, your past experiences serves as a spiritual currency that will continue to overflow long after the actual physical account has run out. Can’t go to the gym? Jump rope around the house and find create ways to use your own body weight to work out.

As we forge forward in the coming months the only choice we have is to move onward in confidence. Dr. Lickerman advises that we should have, “Confidence enough in our ability to wrestle value out of adversity that at the very first moment we encounter an obstacle we feel gratitude for the opportunity it represents instead of fear of the suffering it might bring.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, this predicament is full of promise, although it may be problematic to see, but remember not all opportunities are obvious…

#andthatstheanomaly