How We Think About Thinking

I suffered what felt like a lifetime of living while trying the best that I could to live the life that I had. Through hurt and pain, I tried with all my might to understand the meaning of it all. My question was, who am I? What is my role and purpose in life. My road had been a long and weary one and the answer came to me when I was not waiting for it nor expected it. I was ready for the first time and I knew it. I had found what I was not aware that I was looking for, my Self. What I once could not see is clear to me now. I understand and must move what I have learned forward.

Though I had taken years of university courses in Psychology and studied the field extensively, that is not what did it for me. It did not hurt, certainly; I learned a great deal. No, it is much deeper than that. It is about letting what you know be known. Letting it come out when it has hurt for too long from keeping it in. It is how I see the world, life as it was given, and nature as its guardian. What I have written came to me as natural as the flowers that grow and the birds that sing. It is a process that flows easily. It was written as it was revealed to me. My whole life is the reason that I am, and what I now know is the foundation of my beliefs. In this life, you and I both have a role to play.

You will need to open your mind to allow what is outside to come in. Only then will you know if what you hear is what you want to keep. Take some time and think along with me here. You will certainly have to think in a way that is different from how you have before. What we have thought to be, may not be that way at all. And what we have been taught to believe does not always look the same when we learn how to think our own thoughts. This, of course, many of us thought we already knew.

When I say to think a thought, what I mean is, thought and thinking are not always the same. Stay with me here, this requires a new way of thinking. Your life will be better off for what you are able to digest from what I have to say. A thought is just a thought until you think about it. You cannot think of a thing until you have a thought. And our thoughts are based on how we perceive what we see, hear and feel. A thought just is until it is not. Think of a thought as being inert, not doing a thing from when we have it, until we think of what we want to do with it. The time between the two is quick. There is no way to measure. We are yet to know when someone has a thought or what they are thinking. And there is good reason we do not.

Thought is not only what we had. It is also, what we have. You thought and you have a thought. It is what we have thought, and what we have to think. A thought cannot be forced. To try to do so is called thinking. Once we have a thought, either we think it or it moves to our memory. It will not be undone. It is the same as it is with life. The life we have lived cannot be changed; it is what it is, forever. Think about this. What exist to us is all we know. And we decide what we are going to do with it.

Say you are walking down a long and winding road and along the way, you meet me. You will have a thought based on your perception of me. This is the first thing that will happen. You will then think about us. If you like what you see, you will continue on your way. If for some reason—that can only be known by you—you do not feel safe, you will go in another direction or proceed with caution. Or you may not have strong feelings either way. No matter how you feel, your feelings will be based on what you think. And you will act according to how you feel. We perceive, have a thought, we think, we feel we act. That is the course of an action process, as I believe it to be.

We are taught how to think and must decide what to think. We should not think in a way that tells us things we do not need to hear. Your thoughts belong to you. No one can think for you, though many will try. All that I say about thought, thinking and how we perceive the world around has just one purpose. I am not in any way trying to tell you what to think, I am merely giving you something to think.

We are all born to think, but have to learn to think better. One of the most difficult things to take when I was child is that I could be told what thoughts to think. I did not want to be hurt, and what I heard did just that. We must decide the thoughts we choose to think. No one can do this for us. When we are taught from the start by someone who cares, we can. Thinking is what feeds the mind and tells it what to do.

“I had a thought but I don’t remember what it was.” Have you said this to yourself? The reason is it was not a full thought. When this happens, it was not a thought that held the mind’s attention. (I did not think it was important then, maybe later.) It is my belief that there are two kinds of thought. Have you been asked by someone what you think about a thought that they have. As in, I had a thought about us going shopping today. What do you think about that?

Their thought is the first thought. You can answer but you should not until you know what they think. You could ask, what do you have in mind, what do you think? Your thought then, is a pending thought. A pending thought is still just a thought. As a reminder, there is no greater thing that we have the sole responsibility for than when, what and how we think. It cannot be talked about enough; it determines how we live, if we live, and what is done with us when we do not. It also determines whether we win or lose, go or stay or just be in the way.

Now back to the question, what do you do with your pending thought. You do not know what you think yet. It is a thought that has to wait for the first thought. Someone is yet to think and act. It is the person with the first thought. When asked what you think about a thing, if you do not have a thought about it, you will think nothing. Therefore, there is nothing you can tell them. On one level, they may want your help to make up their mind. They have to think first. Otherwise, they are asking you to think for them. This you cannot do.

To try to think for someone, is not good thinking. One can, let another decide for them. But it will not be their decision until they decide. To think is a process that must end. The power of thinking is in when you act. Before you do, you can feel happy or sad, good or bad. How you act, how I act, is the best that can be known about how we think. This is true no matter what.

We should not act on what we think someone is going to say. That is, to the extent that you have your say before they do. It is a fault that I had during my early years. I did not see it as a problem. Though I could tell, there was a problem. It was not well received. I was this way because I was always on guard. Trying to protect my feelings the best that I could. This was my stance and my ready mode. Wait until you know all that you should. What we think about may not be what we think it is. That is because what we perceive and think we know may not be what is true. Perception can be reality, or not. What is to us, is not always, what is.

Thinking is a process, there is a start and there is a finish each time we think a thought. Once you start, you cannot stop until you are done. What we expose our Self to will be the source for the thoughts that enters our mind—who and what we are around—it is then up to us, what we do with them. We should not let thoughts that are not wanted stay where they do not belong. These kinds of thoughts we should refuse to have anything to do with. Let them go to your memory and let them stay there. Do not think them. They are of no value; no good can from it.

We rule over the mind. That is, we should. Never let it tell you what to do. You and your mind decide what to do with your thoughts. Do not do a thing that will cause you to act in a way other than how you wish. How we act is all that can be known about who we are. There are things that others do that we prefer they did not. We do not control this. We are in charge of how we act. That is the only affect we can have on what others do.

Thoughts will come. We cannot force them from our head. We can, pretend they are not there. They will remind us that they are. Before we act, we should be sure of what we think. What we do next depends on it. When you have good thoughts, it is more likely that good things will happen. Just to think good thoughts is good. It changes how we feel and is the mainstay of a content mind. Bad thoughts can seep in when there is fertile ground for a bad seed to be planted. Do not let bad thoughts take root.

When we think that good thoughts are bad or bad thoughts are good, it is not a good way to think. This is a sign of disordered thinking. It is usually brought on when we have allowed ourselves to be confused by the life we are living. There is someone there who should not be. It could be you. The mind is doing it and you are letting it happen. It is best to remember, that good comes from good and bad comes from bad. There is no other way. Bad can follow good things. Good can follow bad. But neither thing can come from the other thing. There is a point where one stops and the other starts. We will not change what is, no matter what we do. It has made its mark. It matters not if it is good or bad. What is done next will be the new what is. What has happened is over.

We should not talk or think of the bad when things are good. On a nice sunny day, have you heard someone say, or have you said, but it is supposed to be cloudy tomorrow. How can you ever enjoy what is there when you cannot leave good enough alone. But when we feel bad about ourselves, whether we acknowledge it or not, we will not let the good take root. It may not sound like much. It does show a certain frame of mind.

We should always try to think of the good when things are bad. It is cloudy today, but the sun may be out tomorrow. It is the right thing to do because we feel what we think. Thinking should lift the soul and stir the mind. How we think our thoughts forms the foundation on which our lives are built. There is not a thing to think but a thought.

There will be times when you may wonder what it all means and if you should continue. The new tends to be that way, which is how we learn. Be it works of art, literature or merely understanding the use of a product you recently purchased. We must first understand and follow the instructions for best use.

You do not know how good a thought is until you know how good it was. Thought is language for the mind. It drives both actions and words. And there is no such thing as a bad word. The use of a word decides what it is worth. How we arrange our words say what we mean. We should never say what we do not mean to say. Think.

When we think, we are having a talk with ourselves. You can do this two ways. You think your thoughts to yourself. That is when you talk to yourself and not say a word. The other, which I have done since I was a child, is to think your thoughts out loud. This is a good way to discuss what is on your mind with yourself when no one else is around. We think for a reason. The reason is our thoughts. That is the only way for them to take on a life of their own. Not all thoughts are good for us to think. A thought of things best left alone is one of them. But we have to do something with them once we have one. It has to be processed. You either think it or send it back. What greater know how could you have than how to think good thoughts.

Ask me what I think. Do not tell what to think. Think for you. Let no one think this is what he or she can do. They will think this only if we have given them a reason to think so. It would be a reason that had the look of weakness. Our thoughts should be for our own well-being and those that we serve. No one can think the thought of another. We think our thoughts and think about how others act. We have to be aware of a thing to have thoughts about it. To shrink and expand our world is the best way to gauge the thoughts that we think. What I mean is, the limits we place, or not, on the people and things we allow in our world. There are some things we are better off without. Not all belongs in our head. Because once it is, it will forever be in our memory.