“The real power is in NOT thinking…”

Excuse me, what?

Recently, while reading Pam Grout’s book “Thank and Grow Rich” I stumbled onto those words early on. It stopped me cold.

I previously mentioned my issue with thinking or more aptly over-thinking.

I think hard — very hard. ALL THE TIME. And when moments of life get challenging, my brain goes into overdrive. I am sure I can out-think, outwork any challenge.

It’s not that I consider myself particularly gifted intelligence-wise.
It’s more that I think, therefore I can. I believe if I think on something hard enough, long enough, incessantly enough I can solve it.
I am a hard worker. I have discipline. I have focus.
In fact, I can reach a level of intensity that possibly isn’t healthy.

So when someone says the real power is in not thinking I am stumped. I parse, I perseverate, I ruminate like a champion. What will I have my brain do if it’s not thinking so hard-core? How is there not power in my mind?

According to Ms. Grout’s book, our brain has a habit of looking through our past and creating more of that in our present in order to find a match, to find congruity. So if we are thinking hard on something we don’t want, well we get more to match that. All this thinking she says, is just creating static.

Can that be true?

My first thought is I will need to think about that… Haha! This may be a hard habit to break.

But the more I let myself sit with this idea the more merit there seems to be to it. Some of the greatest things I have ever written have come when I just opened the flood gates and let it spill forth. Many of my greatest life experiences have arrived when I wasn’t trying to create them.

It sounds an awful lot like getting out of your own way. Has my thinking ever gotten in the way? Definitely.

I don’t plan on abandoning thought altogether but not holding the reins so tightly might be helpful. Possibly intuition, instinct and dare I say, wisdom, may show up on the scene just at the line where thinking and analysis take a break.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,
Lowi & G