Whose in control, your Brain or You?

Just this past week I had the opportunity to attend Education Week on BYU Campus in Provo, UT. I took a class there that talked a lot about how we have the ability to change our mindset or our attitude about anything. One comment that the teacher made was that we have control over our brains, not the other way around.
Our brains are incredible, and they can do amazing things as long as this is the desire in our hearts. Our entire body was built to function together in a way that is most efficient.
When I was little and I would get frustrated about school work I would always say to myself "I can't do this, this is impossible." My mom would reply to me that if I continued to say this to myself, it would eventually be true. Our brains are programmed in such a way that if we tell ourselves something enough times eventually it becomes reality and we start to actually believe it. It works the other way around as well. If we tell ourselves that we can do something eventually we will be able to work ourselves to the point that we can do it.
I have experience with this in running; it is amazing what brain power can do when the rest of your body wants to give up. I remember on a few occasions when my body was so tired and exhausted that I didn't think I would be able to finish my race. It was on these occasions when I told myself that I could do it, that I was able to keep going and I found a strength deep within myself that I did not think I had. Always on that last lap in the mile or the two mile or whatever it is, you think that you have nothing left but if you just tell yourself that you can, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.
Sometimes what we think or rather what we allow our brains to think is not always the right thing; we know this because we have the light of Christ, or in other words a conscience, that allows us to determine right from wrong. No matter what our minds may be thinking or what people tell us to think, our heart and our spirit know differently.
We might be having a bad day where it just seems like everything is going wrong. I am here to tell you that this is all in your head... literally. Our brains are funny things and it seems that we are often distracted with what we see around us and with outside influences. But the fact of the matter is, we don't have to believe any of it.
I have known amazing people who, it seems, are always happy no matter what tragedies might come at them in their lives. I never cease to be amazed at these people and their ability to choose happiness no matter how bad the circumstances. Your circumstances do not determine your happiness, or rather they shouldn't.
Dale Carnegie said: "Happiness does not depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions." You are in control of what makes you happy or unhappy. If you want to change your life, start by simply changing your thoughts; you will be amazed at the power and control that you do have in your life.