Cement mixer truck in Jersey City, United States.

Cement mixer truck in Jersey City, United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was driving behind a cement truck a few weeks ago and noticed that the drum kept turning around and around while the truck was driving along.

I had never noticed this before and for a moment wondered why this was the case.

Of course, the answer was obvious.

It needs to keep turning around to keep the cement from setting.  If it starts to set before it gets to the pouring site, even if it’s still able to be poured, it will weaken the mix and make the final product less durable.

It also occurred to me that our minds are much the same.

The strongest minds that I have met are always turning over.

They are constantly absorbing new information, reading widely, holding intelligent conversations and finding ways to challenge their own pre-conceived ideas.

In doing so, they strengthen their minds and equip themselves for the knowledge age that we live in.

Alternatively, we can allow our minds to set.

We can try to rely on old ideas, what we learned in high school or what we hear from people we already agree with.  We can sit in a mentally vegetative state in front of the television or a computer screen and waste the chance that we’ve been given to continue to expand our minds.

And in doing so, we become gradually weaker mentally, unable to cope, much less flourish, in a world of constant change and rapidly developing technology that demands sharp minds and creative solutions.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Keep reading, observing, thinking deeply, analysing, growing and challenging yourself.

Your future self will thank you.

And the rest of us will be grateful that you did too.

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