Annabel slammed the door before throwing herself onto her bed. Grabbing her pillow, she muffled the scream of frustration that had been building within her for the past hour. “Be careful what you watch, Annabel,” she mocked in a high falsetto, “Be careful what you listen to. Is that a good CD? Can I hear it too?”
A wave of indignation washed over her. Why should she have to limit her music to the ones her parents would approve of? It’s not as if they were too bad. Switching on her ipod, she flipped to the nearest song, and winced as a word she knew her parents would definitely not approve of blasted into her ear.
Ok, maybe they were a little—rough.
But still!
The memory of her mom, hands on hips, lecturing her about “shielding her mind,” made Annabel want to slam the door all over again. Except—she didn’t want to provoke her mom into stomping up the stairs. She was in enough trouble.
It just wasn’t fair!
Annabel crossed her arms rebelliously. She went to church every Sunday, she prayed, she did devotions. So why couldn’t she listen to the music she liked? It’s not as if a little bit of profanity was going to ruin her life.
What was the big deal, anyway?
***************
Like Annabel, we all tend to wonder what the big deal is. It’s just one word in that song, one line in CD, one scene in that movie.
So why do our parents go berserk?
Think about it, and then read on.
When I was in first grade, I hated the color pink.
Hated it.
Loathed it.
Wouldn’t wear it for the world.
In reality, I didn’t hate the color pink. However, I did hate the image that it seemed to come with.
When I was little, the books I read and the movies I watched were always centered around a strong, (preferably beautiful) heroine who was out to prove that females were equal to males by becoming one of them. These plucky ladies would openly mock the “gentler” race, denouncing frills, bows, anything remotely feminine as “weak” and “girly.”
They were tough, inspiring, and repeatedly beat the bad guys.
I wanted to be like them, and if I couldn’t sneak through a forest, run up a mountain, or perform magic, at least I could avoid being “girly.”
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being girly.
After all, I’m a girl, aren’t I? What am I supposed to be, if not girly? Boy-like?
The point is, my mindset at the time kept me from enjoying my femininity.
And my mindset was created because I soaked up whatever ideas I was presented with without really thinking about them.
Are you being influenced by your environment, by the movies you watch, by the music you listen to?
Think about it. Are your ideas really your own?
Too many times we act like sponges, soaking in ideas and beliefs without truly understanding them.
Instead of really “listening” to the lyrics of a song, we just enjoy the melody and the beat, not knowing that the words of the lyrics are being pounded into our minds.
Instead of taking the time to fully grasp the message of a movie, we complain about the graphics, not realizing that we are unconsciously building a mindset that may harm us in the future.
Sometimes, the ideas you pick up can be harmless. After all, my hatred of the color pink didn’t permanently damage me.
Other times, however, they can really hurt you.
For example, the theme, “follow your heart,” is popular in both book and movies.
At first glance, it looks like a good, wonderful philosophy.
After all, if you’re following your heart, you must be doing something right, right?
Not necessarily.
In “Enchanted,” (a story about a fairy-tale princess who gets dumped into the real world), Princess Giselle wins over the cynical Robert and they live happily ever after. However, after Giselle and Robert get their happy endings, poor Nancy, (Robert’s previous fiancée), is left on her own.
But no worries, Prince Edward, (Giselle’s previous fiancé) is more than willing to whisk her off into a fairy tale land, where animals can talk and magic is a reality.
Why is he interested?
She fits into a shoe.
Despite this, Nancy “follows her heart” and leaves her family, her job, and everything she has ever known for a guy she’s just met.
Never mind that her parents might get worried at their daughter’s disappearance—the most important thing for Nancy is that she is “following her heart.”
Many themes presented as normal and healthy may not actually be that way, just as “following your heart” might not actually be a good principle.
How can we avoid mindsets shaped by the world?
Many parents think that by keeping their children from watching television and from surfing the internet, they’ll keep their children away from wrong ideas.
I grew up without any television, but I was still bombarded with different ideas, simply because I loved to read.
Your parents can’t possibly keep you from movies, internet, TV, books, and music—not unless they stuff you into a cave for the rest of your life.
Like it or not, you’re exposed to these ideas, these beliefs, these messages.
However, there is a way to keep yourself from developing a worldly mindset.
By reading this article, you’ve accomplished the first step—acknowledging the fact that every day, your mind is being filled with images and ideas that might be building an unhealthy mindset.
A pothole is most dangerous to a driver that doesn’t know it’s there.
In the same way, the moment we understand that “our” ideas might not actually be our ideas, we start questioning them.
The second step is to compare the world’s ideas with God’s ideas.
In other words, read your Bible.
How are you supposed to know lies from truth if you don’t know what the truth is?
The world and the Bible don’t agree on much—especially when it comes to principles.
The world says, “It’s ok to lie and disobey your parents as long as you’re following your dreams.
The Bible says “Honor your father and mother, in the Lord, for this is right.” (In other words, unless your parents are trying to get you to disobey God, obey them.)
The world says, “Fight fire with fire.”
The Bible says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19)
The world says, “Do to others what they do to you.”
The Bible says, “Do to other what you would have them do to you.”
Learn to shield your mind.
Instead of being a sponge, be someone who can sort through the messages of the world and discard the ones that go against God.
You deserve better than a mind filled with garbage.
***************
Annabel closed her eyes and groaned. Ever since that fight, she hadn’t been able to listen to her music without her mom’s disapproving face popping up in her mind. She couldn’t play her stereo without feeling guilty, and she could turn flip open her ipod without mentally scanning every song.
What’s wrong with me? It’s not like she’s right, right?
Rolling onto her stomach, she gazed at her ipod, before picking it up and scrolling through the list of songs.
“What do these songs even mean?” Annabel’s stomach turned unpleasantly as she realized that she really didn’t know. Some of the songs had been recommended to her by friends, others, she’d gotten off the internet after the tune caught her ear.
Maybe I do need to watch what I listen to a little more.
The thought caught her unawares, and Annabel felt her stomach clench again. Now that she wasn’t seeing red, memories started to surface.
That time that word slipped from her lips, the time she laughed at that joke without feeling dirty, that time she—
Her eyes widened as the realization hit her.
Two months ago she’d been the one to wince at dirty language, the one to protest, the one to move away. Now--- it was as if a shell had formed around her, blocking off the sound of her conscience.
GIGO, she remembered her pastor saying, “Garbage in, Garbage out.”
Picking up her ipod, she sighed as she started ruffling through the songs.
Maybe it was time for some intensive soul-searching.
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