A highly respected business associate once told me to not use the word ‘lie’ as it was too strong a word. This person further suggested I take responsibility for my understanding of the situation. Perhaps saying “I may have misunderstood what was said” would be a kinder, gentler version.

I was just thinking about baseball last week. I love baseball movies. I have mixed feelings about watching a baseball game. The culprit is the emotional toll the game takes on me. The anxiety of a 3/2 count or bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth amounts to non-participatory anxiety for me.

Yet, I watch again….and again. After reflecting on my long history with baseball, I believe that I return again and again because of the game itself; the thought process, the strategy, and the possibilities. In baseball, anything is possible. I’m sure that I’m not the first to say that. The Rookie is a movie based on pitcher, Jim Morris. The book, Dream Makers is his story. In an interview with Jonathan Drennan for The Guardian Sports Network Morris sums up his short, but inspiring career by saying “I was old (35), fat and had no muscle left in my arm”. He left his job as a science teacher to pitch 94mph fastballs for two years in major league baseball with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays His inspiration and hope in possibilities is best expressed in his own words, “…..anything is possible in this life and that things will get better. I’m living proof of that.”

Finding a Place to really think isn’t easy. I’ve thought about it. Where is this place where I can have a dispute with myself and no one wins or loses? Where is this place where answers are found? Where is this place where ideas form into actions?

I was thinking perhaps it was at the piano. Music almost always gives way to thoughts. That particular thought dissolved very quickly. My talent (or lack thereof) requires complete concentration. The only brain activity going on is between it and my fingers. I thought again. Perhaps the place was my make-it room. It is a quiet space and with few interruptions. However, losing myself in thought there once caused me to spill a quart of red paint on cream carpet. Clearly, the make-it room was not going to be the place for me to be pondering world events. The answer eluded me. After still more thought, I remembered sitting in the rocking chairs on the deck, staring at the lake.

It has occurred to me that we all think we think all the time. Think about that…..we all think...

That we all think…all the time. Re-arrange those sentences any way you choose. The real issue is that we really don’t think as often as we think we do. Let’s move on.

“Think” is actually both a noun and a verb. More commonly we use it as a verb. The words ponder, reflect, meditate, and contemplate are synonyms. However, we don’t often use the words interchangeably. Instinctively, we know that pondering, meditating, and contemplating require a set aside time, mind clearing, and a deliberate process.

My mother would occasionally find quiet time in a house with too many people in too little space. The term “lost in thought” aptly describes her state.