A group of psychologists at Queen’s University in Canada, reported in July 2020 in Nature Communications that the human brain generated, on average, 6,200 thoughts per day. Presuming we are awake 16 hours a day, that’s an average of 387 thoughts per hour. If we were to dwell on every one of these thoughts and leave ourselves with no time to act on anything, we would accomplish nothing in life. Furthermore, if the thoughts were unpleasant, we would be left depressed and discouraged. Each day, there are a lot of opportunities to become anxious, worried, stressed, angry, lonely, and hurt. They all start and end in our minds.
It is said that sometimes less is more. There are some things that we can think less of to gain more joy. We don’t have to think about every thought that crosses our mind. We don’t have to have an answer for every question in life. We don’t have to defend ourselves against every accusation hurled at us. We don’t have to make right every mistake that others make in their lives. We don’t have to finish every task and every chore in our to-do list right this moment. We don’t have to try to solve every problem we face today. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. We do not need to face head on every roadblock we encounter in life. It is often wiser to just go around them.
Many of us lose our joy and peace today because we focus on the past that we cannot change and the future that is merely imagined. We erroneously judge the present based on past truths and false assumptions about the future. As a result, we lose the opportunity to make today a wonderful memory to cherish tomorrow.
Of course, we need to constantly reflect, ponder, analyze, and strategize, in order to succeed in our endeavors, overcome challenges, and appreciate the beauty of life. That’s what we educate and enlighten ourselves for. The Greek philosopher, Socrates, once said “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Thinking is not the problem. It is what we choose to think about and how we handle our thoughts that will determine whether we become wiser and happier, or fruitless and despondent.
In the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians 4:8, he said, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” This is a biblical truth that can help us filter the daily stream of thoughts into our minds.
Some thoughts are for us to cherish and enjoy. Others are for us to process and act on. Many are mere distractions that come to us like dust, and we should treat them as such and just let them pass. We can lose ourselves tracking the specks of dust if we are not careful. The dust can hypnotize us into oblivion, and we soon realize how much time we lost that we can never get back. It is important to live consciously and be purposeful in what we do. There is so much beauty in our lives that we miss because we sleepwalk through it. We take things for granted because we have so many blessings that they become ordinary. The ability to multi-task has become a badge of honor, but its perceived advantage is but a delusion. We lose more than we think we gain. In this day and age of multi-tasking and easy access to various modes of electronic communication, our relationships and social interactions have become more superficial and less meaningful. Living consciously requires us to be mentally present in what we are involved in at the moment. If we are driving, we need to be focused on the lines that mark our lanes and the cars around us. Drinking coffee, eating a meal, talking on the phone, or answering texts while driving is not only dangerous, but they also wear on our minds and leave us exhausted. When we are talking to someone, we need to listen attentively and be actively engaged in the conversation. If we are focused on saying our piece while the other person is talking, we miss the opportunity to learn and the chance to connect deeper. Doing the mundane things consciously like brushing our teeth and combing our hair, can be a calming experience. Being aware of the movements of our chest and abdomen with each breath, and the movements of our limbs as we walk, can help us appreciate God’s blessings of life and health that we would otherwise take for granted.
When there are challenges that our minds cannot process or find a solution for, I find that it is best to just let go of it for the moment and circle back to it later. Dwelling on it does not fix the problem. It actually wears you down. Over the years, I came to realize that everything in life eventually takes care of itself one way or another. Everything in life is temporary; the good and the bad alike. Robert Plant wrote a song about a Persian king who etched a caption on his ring that says, “even this shall pass away,” to remind him that everything in life is fleeting and not to be attached to anything. Every problem eventually works itself out in the end. My confidence comes from believing that God is in control of the universe. I know that when all is said and done, all will be well. Everything God allows in our lives serves a purpose. I have experienced God’s unimaginable love enough to know that He will always help me weather the storm. I know to expect that once the storm passes, and as I pick up the pieces, I will feel closer to God. I will become a better person because of the transformational experience of the storm. God can now use the thousands of shattered pieces of me to serve thousands more people at a time. In Jeremiah 29:11, God said, “for I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” If we have God in our lives, we can rest easy and surrender our anxious thoughts to Him. In Isaiah 26:3, it says that God will keep in perfect peace all who trust in Him, and all whose thoughts are fixed on Him.