Did You Miss Me?

Yes, it has been awhile since you last heard from me, hasn't it. Sorry about that, I took a vacation of sorts. A family member was ill and that kept me pretty busy and at the same time gave me lots of time to reflect on things.

You know so often today we tell ourselves a story of how busy we are and let ourselves off the hook when it comes to thinking. Most of us do very little real thinking and that is what I wanted to talk about today.

Because I spent time visiting at the hospital I had many opportunities to hear people speaking even when I didn't want to. I know some people love to hear what is on other peoples minds but for me, what I all too often hear is the opinions that people have been fed by the media. Many people think that everything that they hear or read in the news is 100% true and it does not occur to them that; A. they are only getting the part of the story that sutis the writer B. it may not be true at all but they don't have to be as vocal about retractions and C. every story is designed to lead you to form a certain opinion based on slanted information that suits the bias of the media outlet. Sensationalism sells.

And what sensatinalism also does is pollute your mind with others opinions, relieving you of the obligation to think. Here is an example; do you vote in presidential elections? Do you read each party's platform before you decide who to vote for? Most people do not. Isn't that a scary thought? Most of what people think about is what other people have given them to think about and not thoughts that they have generated for themsleves.

So make a decision today; spent 5 minutes today thinking. Pick a subject you believe in and ask yourself why do I believe this? Repeat that tomorrow and make it a new habit, gradually increasing the time you actually spend in thought until you reach 30 or 60 minutes-your choice-then see if you haven't started making some positive changes in your life based on the thoughts you have begun to have.