I’ve been thinking about rethinking.
I must admit, I like to think. I’ve been told many times that I think too much. And maybe all that thinking really is a problem, but I believe the real issue is not just thinking, but rethinking.
The wrong kind of rethinking
“A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It’s not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it’s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we’ve been attaching to, often for years.”
― Byron Katie
If you define rethinking as thinking the same thoughts over and over again (and again, and again, and…you get it) — without questioning those thoughts, without considering other thoughts (similar and dissimilar), and with zero awareness that you’re doing this, then you’re limiting self-growth, self-understanding, and self-improvement. You’re not learning anything, and most importantly — you’re not unlearning anything.
A better way of rethinking
“The only means of strengthening one’s intellect is to make up one’s mind about nothing — to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts.”
― John Keats
But if you do the type of rethinking that Adam Grant talks about in his book Think Again, you can continue to grow and improve and move up the ladder of self-awareness and self-actualization. He encourages you to seek out and listen to differing points of view, actively question your perceptions and beliefs, and ask for honest feedback. He encourages you to make revisions and do a lot of rewriting. And he refers to studies that show how these types of rethinking practices lead to improvements in such tasks as writing, drawing, and test-taking.
Or maybe there is such a thing as too much thinking
“Stop thinking, and end your problems.”
― Lao Tzu
Another recent read that inspired me to think about thinking is this quote by Don Miguel Ruiz in his blog on The Four Agreements:
“Making assumptions is all about thinking. We think too much, and thinking leads to assumptions. Just thinking “What if?” can create a huge drama in our lives. Every human can think a lot, and thinking brings fear. We have no control over all that thinking, all those symbols that we distort in our head. If we just stop thinking, we no longer try to explain anything to ourselves, and this keeps us from making assumptions.”
A lot of thinking is making assumptions, and I’m willing to admit that most of my assumptions are wrong. Way wrong. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
I also learned from Don Miguel that most of the thoughts I have were acquired from others. He explains that we are taught what to think and what to believe from the moment we are born. We are taught rules; taught what is right and what is wrong. We are taught how to behave, what to believe, and what not to believe. And much of our suffering comes from accepting and believing that all that we have been taught is true.
Rethinking what I’m thinking
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
― Albert Einstein
My take-away from thinking about thinking is to remember this: My thoughts are just thoughts — they are not facts. A particular thought or belief that served me in the past may be due for a revision or deletion. My thoughts may not even be my own, such as the thought that I should look a certain way or act a certain way and expect others to look and act like I do.
And finally, many of my thoughts are assumptions, and the making of assumptions leads to needless suffering and is a huge waste of time. The way to avoid making assumptions? — ask questions. So I’m asking a lot more questions now.
I do believe that it’s possible to make the world a better place, and I believe that it starts with me and my thinking. I hope you will join me in rethinking our way to better world for ourselves and for others. And please let me know what you think about thinking. I would love to hear it!