I was Just Thinking

It has occurred to me that we all think we think all the time.  Think about that.  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.  An active family and extended family left her little spare time.    However,  it was evident that she allocated time to the process of thought.   Inevitably she would conclude her self-imposed exile by saying

“I was just thinking”.   

Real thinking requires time.  It requires time because we need to sort through the multitude of facts and feelings that bombard our brains.   

*When do we find the time to contemplate?  

*Where to we find a place to ponder and reflect?  

*Why do we need to contemplate?

When and Where thinking occurs are personal choices.  Our lives and the lives of others probably won’t be altered by when and where we take time to meditate, ponder, contemplate, or “think”.

However, the need to think is inherent in our ability to change our minds, to change our lives, and change the world we live in.  Albert Einstein once said “The world as we have created is a process of our thinking.  It cannot be changed without changing our thinking”.    

My mother understood that.  Her time ‘thinking’ resulted in solving problems, new ideas, and often, a new perspective.

One day I was just thinking….Maybe I should do a blog focused on taking time to think, to question, to find new possibilities.  Maybe.