Thinking Again
Thursday, 10. April 2008, 18:55:21
When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself. — Plato (427-347 BC), Greek philosopher.
Is this really true? If it is, then there must be one part of your mind that listens to another part that is talking. When I talk to myself (Aloud that is, which I do, on ocasion), I can hear what I'm saying, but I also know in my mind what I'm going to say before I say it, even when I know that no one else is listening, so what's the point? Why do I do it? Is that what I mean when I say, I'm just thinking out loud?
Can we control our own conscious thoughts? I know that most of us cannot control our subconscious thoughts, (Some have said they could). For instance when we are sleeping, and dreaming. But I wonder if it would be possible to have enough self discipline to control your every thought, every waking moment. There is an old saying that goes, "You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair".
I think that if a thought comes into your mind that you don't want there, you must think of another thought to take it's place, but you must have something good in mind beforehand, and you must act quickly, or the thing that takes it's place may be worse than the original thought you were trying get rid of in the first place, and this could start a chain reaction of undesireable thoughts. So I think the key here is to keep that good thought handy, so those birds cannot build that nest in our hair. What do you think? (No pun intended).
Is this really true? If it is, then there must be one part of your mind that listens to another part that is talking. When I talk to myself (Aloud that is, which I do, on ocasion), I can hear what I'm saying, but I also know in my mind what I'm going to say before I say it, even when I know that no one else is listening, so what's the point? Why do I do it? Is that what I mean when I say, I'm just thinking out loud?
Can we control our own conscious thoughts? I know that most of us cannot control our subconscious thoughts, (Some have said they could). For instance when we are sleeping, and dreaming. But I wonder if it would be possible to have enough self discipline to control your every thought, every waking moment. There is an old saying that goes, "You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair".
I think that if a thought comes into your mind that you don't want there, you must think of another thought to take it's place, but you must have something good in mind beforehand, and you must act quickly, or the thing that takes it's place may be worse than the original thought you were trying get rid of in the first place, and this could start a chain reaction of undesireable thoughts. So I think the key here is to keep that good thought handy, so those birds cannot build that nest in our hair. What do you think? (No pun intended).
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Maybe controlling our thoughts consists not so much in controlling every single thought we have, but choosing which thoughts are worth keeping, pondering, and/or acting upon.
And maybe that's what you just said.
Good post, Larry.
Hope all is well with you and the Mrs.
By Stardancer, # 10. April 2008, 21:26:17
As far as thought replacement goes, I think it's a great method, especially for positive behavior change and it gets easy with practice..just as we have learned to think in "this" way we can learn to think in another and yet some free brain activity must always be allowed to happen IMHO and will come out in other ways even if we try to repress it! great post Lar!
By Capegirl, # 10. April 2008, 21:44:07
By Capegirl, # 10. April 2008, 21:45:25
"[ but choosing which thoughts are worth keeping, pondering, and/or acting upon.]"
I'm not sure I said that, but I like the way you put it, and I agree completely. I think we can keep the thought long enough to decide if it's a keeper, without pondering too long on the ones that are not. I mean wouldn't we know right away. I know I've had good thoughts that were well worth pondering, and pondering, and pondering..........
By EL_GE, # 10. April 2008, 23:56:17
I like to ponder the good ones a lot, too.
By Stardancer, # 11. April 2008, 00:04:50
I also like the idea of replacement thought too, but I have a friend who rejects that idea in favor of not thinking at all, you know, like Yoga where you just blank everything out of your mind. She says it's hard, but it can be done, but I think that would be impractical unless you are sitting down, relaxed with your eyes closed, and humming some sort of mantra. Now I'm not saying that's bad, but say you're driving down the road, and you have an undesirable thought, etc. you get the picture.
I believe there are millions of people out there who have never in their lives ever considered controlling their own thoughts.
Can you see the look on their face when you ask them, "Hey buddy, you ever try to control your thoughts?" "Huh, you kiddin' what for."
By EL_GE, # 11. April 2008, 21:09:09
I talk to myself also, and I see nothing wrong with that. Generally I find myself asking a question of myself, and I never thought too much about it, but it could be my mind wants me to search for another answer. And on occasion I seem to be emphasizing something that I am pondering over; it is as if my mind wants me to concentrate on that particular item. I also talk to myself continuously while I am constructing an e-mail, that allows me to form my next thoughts while typing, I should say while performing my hunt and peck routine.
There is no way that I can control my subconscious mind while asleep. Maybe I am unaware that it can be controlled. I find no reason to try to alter my “minds eye”, if that is in control, because so far it has treated me fairly well. I can not remember the last time I had a nightmare. I spent most of my working life in the Navy and I still dream most of the time about Navy people and ships that I have known, usually mixed with people I presently associate with and family. The situations are almost always strange and very unusual but also seem very real as dreams have a way of doing. None of these experiences are bad, in my opinion, and I would not want to tamper with my good fortune.
Navyman834;)
By navyman834, # 14. April 2008, 06:29:13
By EL_GE, # 2. May 2008, 03:36:02