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August 2, 2012

College Students – Do You Bother To Guard Your Heart Anymore?

In today’s word loaded with entertainment, have you considered the need to guard your heart? There’s such a huge variety of books, movies, and music to pick from. Your eyes and your ears are gateways to your heart.

Would you allow me to sound an alarm or raise a tiny red flag? Before you run off to indulge yourself in a good book, or movie or music CD, let’s take a look at how to guard your heart.

Are there things you should and should NOT read, listen to, or watch?

Guard Your Heart-Books

A piece of literary art can keep you in your room by yourself for hours. You probably don’t have a clue what’s going on around you.

That’s because your senses are so absorbed by your imagination being locked into your senses activated by the details of the story. You have been transferred to another place entirely.

By the time you finish the book, you feel groggy and maybe even disorientated. You take in your reality and wonder what happened to my time. You’ve been so indulged into your little adventure that reality slaps you in the face.

Another effect is that you can’t stop thinking about the book. It invades your thoughts, and soon you find that those ideas are influencing you. If you are like me, you start quoting the ideas and statements from the book.

The book has in fact become a part of you just like the steak and eggs you ate for breakfast. You are reading more than just letters on a page.

That writer had a purpose and the words they chose came from their spirit or soul. That is why the written word is so powerful. Did you forget to guard your heart?

Guard Your Heart-Music

Music is another form of media that rocks your soul in a very different way from a book. You will notice many people like to close their eyes when listening to music. This tends to increase the intensity of the impact it can have on you.

Have you heard the saying that music can soothe the savage college student? College is a rich time for young adults to explore their emotional natures.

Many will allow themselves to be drawn into different situations just to find out how it feels. Sometimes they get in over their ears. Music can also stir up the savage college student.

What do you think is the average age of concert goers? It’s twenty years. Young people long for and will chase after emotional experiences. Music can provide a potent and influential experience. Consumers spent over $6 billion last year for on-line music downloads alone.

Unless you are listening to an instrumental piece, you are listening to musical notes AND lyrics. The song’s writer had a message to convey and they were doing that from their soul. With headphones on, I ask, “Did you forget to guard your heart?”

Guard Your Heart-Movies and TV

Movies and television may exert the strongest influence upon its viewers of all the entertainment media. They engage your sense of sight and hearing. This creates twice the effect in a short period of time. The rampage murderer in Colorado painted himself up like the joker.

Before you try to get upset, I am not saying that Batman was the cause of that tragedy. The movie did plant an image in his mind that he chose to imitate in a very twisted way. Was this young man guarding his heart?

The question comes down to what kind of standard should you set in order to adequately guard your heart. That standard may be different for different people.

Whether you are reading a book, listening to a music CD, or watching a show, I strongly suggest that you take the time to draw a standard for yourself.

Draw the line somewhere and commit not to step over it. Violence and sexual themes are two no-brainer areas that you will want to address.

Also, ask yourself what value this piece of entertainment has that can make you a better person.

Would you put rocks in your coffee grinder? Your heart, the core of who are becoming, is most valuable. Consequently, above all else, guard your heart.

Eric

P.S. My Dad operates a network of groups for men called Courageous Destiny Teams. They can help you learn how to GUARD YOUR HEART. Check this link out.

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