 A good state of mind is like fresh air and a bad state of mind is like being stuck in a stuffy room and I like this metaphor because we've all had that experience of being in a room where the air is very stuffy and still closed windows, no circulation and maybe even we get used to it and then it becomes normal but it's always just a little bit uncomfortable and just makes everything a bit worse, makes our attitude a bit worse and harder to enjoy whatever we're doing and then suddenly we open a window and suddenly this fresh breeze of cool fresh air comes in and there's that immediate feeling of refreshment, that feeling of being healthier, being more alive and just being reminded of all the good things in life and so I like this metaphor for our state of mind because it's so easy to get stuck in these stuffy rooms of our own mind as we're thinking about our own business, concerned about whatever details are bothering us, we can easily get into this kind of mental hole, it's kind of like a mental cave, a mental room with closed windows and it's like we're breathing our own air, we're not getting something fresh from outside, we're just breathing our own repeated thoughts and just sort of stuck within a small space and that stuffy room feeling is feeling of being inside a small space and there's no access to the bigger picture, we're cut off from anything else and we're just sort of going around and around in this small area but as soon as we open that window and let in the fresh air it's like we're connected to the bigger picture because when we're getting a breath of fresh air that's where we're outside or open to the atmosphere I mean that's like the whole world atmosphere is all connected together, we're getting this breath of air that we take now outside is there's nothing standing between it and any air anywhere in the world it's just this full pattern of circulation all over the world so just that single breath of fresh air is like we are connected to the whole world, the whole atmosphere we are part of the whole whereas the stuffy room feeling is being cut off from the whole and it also gives the feeling that you know we need fresh air is something that needs to be continually renewed we can't just get get a supply of it and store it up and then use it indefinitely we have to continually be connected to this bigger picture we have to continually get new supplies of fresh air so how do we get this metaphorical fresh air I mean some of it I think is just actually getting outside because our physical environment our physical state reflects and is part of our mental state and so just even getting outside this is I did today I spent the morning inside and then just had to get outside for a walk come to the park get the fresh air of course even better when there's grass and trees around to get that fresher air but just to be outside and then also to stretch the metaphor even just the fresh air of new ideas the fresh air of other people and their input and anything that takes us out of our own thoughts and mixes a we're in this you know this air is a mix of everything a mix of everybody's thoughts a mix of we're getting influenced from outside we need that fresh air to come in from outside we can't keep everything we need for ourselves we have to be part of the bigger atmosphere outside so I like to use this metaphor and although I guess most of all I just like to actually get some fresh air and the effect on my state of mind is so strong it's almost too easy so I hope you enjoy your own fresh air in whatever form it comes