Health is Deep Thought
Create an environment where you can think deeply.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
In a time of great technological advancement, constant fight for your attention span and short burst (scrolling) opioid hits… it has become increasingly difficult have deep thought. Many of us try to struggle to even be alone with our thoughts - so naturally we turn to other things - cell phones, texting, gossip. One study done by University of Virginia researchers showed that the average person could not deal with sitting around with their thoughts for more than six to fifteen minutes. For some of us it is fear, some of it is lack of delayed gratification.
A good friend mine says “It’s all mindset”. A few years ago I began pursuing the one of the most important works I’ve done in my life up to this point. It is the journey towards myself. And that journey started with how I thought.
The average person has 6000 thoughts per day
Craig Groeschel says that our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. WHAT we think shapes WHO we are (whoa). Also, if you clicked on his name it will have taken you to his website, which looks very similar to mine… and well that’s by design because he has been one of my biggest heroes and muses in this season of life (Thanks Craig, and your design team).
Deep thinking can transform your life. I know it did mine. It can profoundly change the way you think, feel and behave. Thinking deeply challenges us to live deeper, more meaningful lives. To think deeply means to think beyond beliefs, preconceived ideas and prevailing opinions. It’s to give the internal rise to the external spaces. Thinking allows us to break off false convictions so that the truth can unfold in our lives. Thinking allows us to break beyond our boundaries.
But first - we have to give ourselves the space to think.
Once you’ve created the environment, here are three practices to improve your thinking
Write - Process your internal being by putting into paper (external). This is the simplest way to get down thoughts to revisit over time. You will see your thinking change when you write.
Read - Consuming information creates new exciting patterns and challenges our thoughts. It strengthens the connections we have in our brains to improve memory, concentration and even reduces cognitive decline.
Discuss - Invite someone to discuss the things on your mind. Some of us may find it helpful to process with a friend for validation or even correction. But inviting someone from outside to our inside world can reveal to us things that we did not know where there.
So get to thinking. Thinking deeply leads us to live a healthier, happier life.