The Thinking Mind- Friend, or Foe?
A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves. -Marcel Proust As I’ve mentioned, we had a wonderful break in our miserably hot and humid weather this week. When I headed to the trail for my long run, it was in the upper 50s. 50s!!! This was completely different from our recent “feels like” temperatures of 90 degrees at 5:30 am. When I got to the trail, I felt a surge of excitement and thought, “I can’t wait to explore!” That was odd, because I’ve done many, many long runs on this trail- but I’ve never done one in this weather. It really did feel like a different trail. It was definitely a different experience. Usually my whole run is about managing the heat- stuffing ice in my bra and pouring cold water over my head. This time I could just… run. I recently read an article on Raptitude called “How To Make Your Mind Maybe One-Third Quieter.” The suggestion was to go for a walk with the intention of noticing rather than thinking. Thoughts will still crop up, but the idea is to let them go and listen for the next sound. “Be interested in how things look and sound. A good way to frame this practice is that you’re looking at and listening to the world as though it’s saying something to you.” Well, this was lovely! The trail is beautiful, and there was plenty to notice. Most of the trail was pretty clear, but there were parts that were overgrown… This didn’t bother me too much- it just reminded me that I’m running through the wilderness. Trails don’t appear on their own; someone had to clear this and then keep it maintained. It’s probably hard to keep it all clear in the summer, because things grow so fast here in the rainy season. Thank you, kind people (whoever you are) for keeping this trail clear! Oh wait- I’m not supposed to be thinking. Back to noticing. But do you know how many times I had that same exact thought (“Trails don’t clear themselves! Someone is maintaining this trail, etc.”) Oh, about… 1000. Okay, I get that thoughts will creep in- but why do we think the same thoughts over and over again? This sentence from the article stood out to me: “The world is a lot less repetitive than the mind. The mind goes on about the same stuff forever.” Honestly, I was so bored thinking that same thought, it was a relief to put my headphones in after five miles. Don’t get my wrong- I loved this run. I loved being out in nature and I really did appreciate the trail and the weather. But doing that exercise made me aware of just how repetitive my thoughts are. I was curious about why we do this, so I looked it up. But all the articles I found dealt with ruminating, negative thoughts, and anxiety. What if I want to stop repetitive good thoughts? If I’m going to think, why does it have to be the same thing over and over again? Since the goal, according to the article, is to make your mind “maybe one-third quieter,” maybe I have to keep noticing- listening and seeing what the world has to tell me- and hope that I only think the same, boring thoughts two-thirds of the time. That seems like a doable goal, although still a tedious waste of two-thirds of my time. Well… baby steps! Do you notice your repetitive thoughts, good or bad? Anyone found a way to STOP DOING THIS???