Tell me What you Think…

“I think therefore I am.” – Rene Descartes

Here is my hypothesis: if you really sit down to think and do reflective, introspective, reasoned thought, you prepare your mind to have more capability of dealing with difficulties, seizing opportunities, and making good decisions.

When we do these three things our life becomes more fruitful and bears the resemblance of a good life, no, a GREAT life!

We leave an indelible mark on the people that we know.  We leave a legacy on the hearts of those that we love.

Using this deduction, it becomes very clear that in order to have this good life, this great life, this fulfilling life, this purposeful life, it all begins with reflective and introspective, reasoned thought.

“We in America have everything we need except the most important thing of all – time to think and the habit of thought.” – Norman Cousins

In today’s world it is not like in generations past where the time to think was more abundant. The distractions were less intrusive, in fact, the distractions we have today were not even being contemplated at the time.  Reflective thinking has become a casualty of the digital age. 

The practice of serious, deep thought and insightful conversations was a norm ‘back-in-the-day’ rather than something we tend to unconsciously avoid on a daily basis in today’s society.

You may be thinking, “But Melissa, I don’t avoid it!” and maybe YOU don’t… but millions, no billions, of people do.

It starts at a young age. Even in the school systems we’re not taught to think, we’re taught to memorize. We’re taught to intake information and regurgitate it out verbatim.

We need to rediscover, embrace, and engage in reflective, serious thought as a defense against the readily accessible abundance of information and our distraction filled society.

As a senior in high school, our daughter was told to memorize a monologue from a Shakespearean play. What good does this do? The mere memorization does not get to the meaning. The mere memorization does not get to our thought process, our inner core to where we could understand the purpose of the words.

Wouldn’t it be a better exercise to take the passage from Shakespeare, translate it into words and phrases and meanings that we can put into place today?  The mere reflective thought on the passage would engrain Shakespeare’s words into our minds, but we would also have more context and meaning behind rather than mere articulation.

And this is just one example of how our schools, although well intentioned, are not providing a thinking education to our younger generation.  Yes, there are those that break from this mold.  There are those teachers and professors who display a desire to push their students to not stop at a rough, surface or shallow understanding, but to dive deeper and truly absorb the information.

We do still have amazing inventions in technology, mathematics, science and even humanities.  But the rapid rate of ever-increasing technology reduces our need to even retain the vast amount of information in the world.  We no longer have to retain any of the information that we receive. We can just look it up!  

Cyber-loitering has become a norm, but it should not be confused with quality thought.

A mind that is not exercised through concentration and retention is incapable of recall when moments of difficulty arise, or when opportunity presents itself, or when a good decision needs to be made.

So that brings us back to the hypothesis:  it begins with thinking.  Sitting down, doing reflective, introspective thought requires us to remove ourselves from distractions. To turn off the mind-numbing information intake receptacles like the TV, radio, podcasts, computer, Internet, and our phones.  Even this BLOG! 

“When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.” – Plato

We need to sit down and take what is a seemingly simple thought and break that down into the complex pieces that it is in order to prepare our minds to be able to expand and explore the opportunities and possibilities that surround us.  Consistent practice of this type of thought prepares and preps our minds for all that is to come.

This, my friends, allows us to have our mind in a place where when we need to decide it is not a difficult one.  We may consult the Internet for further information, but not to align ourselves to someone else’s thoughts, someone else’s opinions, but rather we can rely on the thought process of our own as we gather and analyze all that we receive.

The result:  we make better decisions, faster, and more in alignment with ourselves, our values and our purpose. And with better decisions – we make a better life for ourselves and those around us.

So, I ask you, when is the last time you sat still in a quiet room, or out in nature, and turned off ALL distractions and released yourself to the inner thoughts and workings of your mind?

Here is the challenge for today: what question are you struggling with, what decision are you wrestling with at this time?  What are you looking up on the Internet to try to help you make that decision? Or is there a more introspective personal thing that you’re working on – some kind of characteristic that you’re trying to form within yourself, something you’re trying to change, something you’re striving towards?

Take that question, leave everything else behind, lose yourself in a whirlwind of serious introspection, and sit with it…. and THINK.