January 2010

Differently Thinking

Ready, set, go! And we're off - with a new year, new hope, new plans. The paradox is, that this ritual is a well-established "tradition" of change. What is also interesting is that change comes our way just as we emerge from holiday traditions that seldom tend to vary from year to year. But what if the start of a new year did not set off a torrent of guilt-induced resolutions? What if looking back and forward only involved changing the way we think? Maybe the rest would just take care of itself.

Research shows that the way we think affects our bodies and our surroundings. Sometimes the way we think can even cause us more stress, and frankly, who needs more stress? The way we think can also create a kind of "groove" in our lives, establishing repetitive patterns that do not allow for change or growth. As the saying goes, even a plant is restricted by the size of the pot where it grows.

The way we think also reinforces beliefs about ourselves and about the way we do what we do. Think about what paintings would be like if artists always painted the sky blue or if poets didn't challenge us by juxtaposing words or images. What if a poet had never imagined a "purple cow" or if Beethoven only wrote music that he could hear, instead of writing the music he heard in his head? It would be difficult to imagine any number of artists from Mozart to Picasso to Frank Loyd Wright saying, "You know this art thing - I just don't think it's me!"

Thinking differently tends to bring up the familiar "cart before the horse" syndrome that demands certainty before action. This only helps to grind that groove in even deeper and that's why things stay the same. The thinking begins to define you and aspects of your life. If, on the other hand, you stop and consider alternatives, you could be opening the door to something you have aspired.

So if you want to write a novel, make a movie or learn to ballroom dance, think of the possibilities and then imagine yourself involved in them. Try singing or drawing or even bird-watching. Stare at the clouds, why not? Think nothing of it. As it happens, one good thought deserves another, and you never know where all this new thinking could lead you.

Go ahead - it's good for you!™