July 17, 2020
I think thinking is good. I think about thinking a lot; especially these days because there is so much more to think about. I think we even think about things we never thought about before and think about what we’re going to need to think about in the future. You think more about where to go, how to go, the known and unknown. You think more about family and friends. You may think more about strangers and what they’re thinking. You may even think about how much thinking people are not doing these days. You think about how they act rather than think because thinking takes too much effort. I must say, however, I think there is some non-thinking that is actually good.
When you think about it, our brains are a marvelous thinking machine and I find myself thinking about how much thinking my thinking machine can take. Which is why, I think, it’s good to take some time not to think, but not in the way most people aren’t thinking these days. For example, if I go to the beach I see lots of people reading books or scrolling on phones and tablets. Not me. I took a book once and read only three chapters in a week. I took a comic book for the entertainment value and minimal time it took. Mostly though, I just sit and stare off. Perhaps play some music, but it’s just background. I sit and think of nothing. I take in the wind and sounds and visual rhythms that pass before me, but I don’t think about them; they just are. As I think about it now, I realize when I don’t think, sometimes I think the best. When you tune out the all the thoughts that constantly plague your mind, when you take a few moments to clear your head, it’s like a reboot to your entire system and when you tune back in, there are amazing ideas, a greater appreciation of things and a renewed focus on what needs to be done.
Of course, you don’t need to be on a beach. You can do it anywhere. Sometimes I take a few moments to get up from my desk and look out the window. You just need to make time, for a few brief moments, at home, in your car, walking a trail, anywhere, to let it all go, breath deep, and don’t think.
Thinking is good, thinking is necessary most of the time, but not thinking for even just a little bit here and there, is a really good thing too. I think.
Mike
