SAME THOUGHTS DIFFERENT DAY? TIME TO PLAY THE NEW THOUGHTS GAME

S R Janssen

Life is speeding up for me. If I want my end game to be as big and as fun as possible, it is time to change my ways. Thinking new thoughts is the easiest way to start, nevertheless it requires effort.

Image depicts a woman thinking ten new thoughts before breakfast to illustrate changing hapits of hought.

As we move into the realm of “senior citizen” we drag along the engrained habits of thought keep us round and round on the same mental treadmill. Every morning, when I pour my cereal, the thought that crosses my mind is the same one that crossed my mind yesterday. At 10:00 a.m. I relive the annoyance I felt during a conversation with my friend fifteen years ago. Rigidity of mind ages us more than stiff joints and sore muscles.

PLAYING THE GAME

Play this game daily. You don’t need to spend more than ten minutes with this. Lack of time is no excuse.

Step One:    Sit down in your favorite chair.

Step Two:    Set a timer for a minimum of ten minutes.

Step Three:  Spend a brief moment watching those old familiar thoughts bubble up, then dump them.

Step Four:   Deliberately think thoughts you have never thought before

Step Five:    Your mind will struggle to return to familiar ground (don’t buy into boredom; it’s a trick)

What Do I Think About

You can begin by brainstorming a list of topics or questions that interest you, and then use this list as a starting point for your intentional thought practice. Alternatively, you could try using prompts or exercises to stimulate your imagination and generate new ideas. For example, you might try visualizing a hypothetical scenario or problem and brainstorming creative solutions. Or you could try asking yourself “what if” questions, such as “what if I approached this situation from a completely different perspective?” or “what if I tried something I’ve never done before?”

Another approach is to deliberately expose yourself to new and diverse sources of information and ideas. This could involve reading books or articles on topics you’re not familiar with, attending events or lectures on subjects outside your usual interests, or engaging in conversations with people who have different backgrounds and perspectives than your own. Be prepared for your trickster mind. Deliberately thinking new thoughts can be challenging. It’s so tempting to retreat into familiar thought patterns to avoid exploring uncomfortable or challenging ideas. Moreover, the sheer volume of information and ideas available to us can be overwhelming, making it difficult to know where to start.

Whatever approach you take, it’s important to approach intentional thought with a sense of curiosity and openness. Rather than trying to force yourself to come up with new ideas or perspectives, try to simply explore and observe the thoughts that arise in your mind. Pay attention to any patterns or biases that emerge, and challenge yourself to consider alternative viewpoints or possibilities.

The Benefits

Another benefit of intentionally thinking new thoughts is that it can stimulate our creativity. When we challenge ourselves to come up with new ideas and perspectives, we exercise our imagination and creative faculties. This can be particularly useful for those in creative fields, such as writing, art, or music, who rely on their ability to generate new and original ideas.

In conclusion, spending time every day deliberately thinking new thoughts can be a powerful tool for personal growth, creativity, and overall well-being. By intentionally focusing our minds on exploring new ideas and perspectives, we can challenge our existing beliefs and thought patterns, broaden our understanding of the world around us, and cultivate a more open and curious mindset. While it can be challenging to break out of familiar thought patterns and explore uncomfortable or challenging ideas, setting aside dedicated time for intentional thought and approaching it with a sense of curiosity and openness can help us overcome these obstacles and unlock new levels of insight and creativity.

The Saga of Chunky Cheap Necklaces

S R Janssen
Graphic
The new jewelry

For decades, the stuff in my jewelry box was demure and understated. Except for a three huge “dinner rings” sporting gaudy glass stones: gifts from a dear friend kept for sentimental value.  They lived in the basement of my jewelry box.

They have come out of hiding; they sit front and center in my jewelry box. With them are some “newbies” on the block: chunky, gaudy and cheap necklaces. Every morning, I don a necklace and a ring. Even when I dress in garden grunge, the jewelry is there.

These “gauds” support my efforts to “mind-shift” into a different version of me. Yeah! yeah! My mother, my aunts, my teachers, my sister all told me “be yourself.” I am fed up with that business. I tried it for 75 years and I am tired of “being myself.” Would you believe I think the same thoughts in exact same sequence every single morning while brushing my teeth? What am I thinking about? Living a year in Spain? Pony trekking in Iceland? Hell no, I think about an insignicant event with a coworker. It was an incident free of trauma and fleeting interest.

Time to teach this old dog new tricks. Now every morning, I fasten a gaudy necklace around my neck and slide on a gaudy glass ring. Then I sit down with the morning cup of very strong coffee and my journal, and I practice thinking new thoughts. This morning, I listened to a scientist speculating that the “world we know” is limited to the nature of our senses. If we had a different set of senses, our experience of the world around would be different beyond our comprehension. Imagine seeing your world in a five-hundred shades of red!

How would my teenage years felt if I had spent time thinking new thoughts, ones that had nothing whatsoever to do with the conflict between my parents?

Some say that imagination is the most powerful force in the universe.  Did you know that Einstein is quoted as saying “If you want to have intelligent children, read them fairy tales; if you want to have more intelligent children read them more fairy tales.”

Going to go read a fairy tale now and get smarter.