It's beneficial to use a different medium, a different tool, a different way of seeing besides thought.
***
My medium of thought, perhaps similar to yours, tells me what to consider "significant", "less significant", and "insignificant" in my life. Based on innumerable experiences, upbringing, and immense socialization, I have an unconscious prioritization process. Kind of like a machine that automatically separates quarters from dimes, dimes from nickels, and nickels from pennies.
This prioritization process tends to consider work, eating healthy, spending time with friends/family, independence, being a force of positive energy, running, spiritual growth, and knowledge at the top of the priority list. In a sense, these are the quarters in my life; the things I tend to put most of my time and energy into.
The dimes, or the "less significant" aspects of my life, according to my thought processes, tend to be: cleaning, returning phone calls/e-mails, sleep, the places I buy groceries, the words I say from moment to moment, the strangers I interact with each day, and the random ideas that float through my head.
The nickels and pennies, or the "insignificant" aspects of my life--according to Ms. Thoughts--consist of the thousands of small choices I make each day: to drink coffee or tea, to smile at the old woman or just walk by, to write/read or veg out on the internet, to run in the rain or to take the day off, to offer an encouraging word or to say nothing at all, to try the new meditation class, to make the new recipe, to call the new friend, to call the old friend, or to save the extra dollar or spend it.
It's amazing how our minds naturally categorize and prioritize the matters of life. It's difficult to notice or realize our mental constructions unless we try a new medium, or a new way of percieving. Today, after stripping away my "thought processes", I realized the sheer stupidity (for lack of a better term) of my natural prioritization processes.
Our bodies, homes, cities, states, countries, continents, oceans, mountains, and universes are massive compilations of tiny atoms--millions of small elements, cells, and particles that create larger forms. I'm no scientist, but I know that in many cases the smallest mutation or alteration can surmount to the demise or creation of a larger piece of matter. Our lives are compilations of our smallest, minute-to-minute, day-to-day decsions. Without making a hundred small conscious decisions to save the dollar, I will never obtain the hundred dollar bill. Without consciously choosing to return phone calls or to say small, encouraging words each day, I cannot achieve the larger goal of being a good friend or being a force of positive energy. Without taking thousands upon thousands of small strides, I cannot achieve the larger goal of completing a marathon.
It's the pennies, nickels, and dimes that add up to the quarters. It's the small decisions that are the most significant.
This prioritization process tends to consider work, eating healthy, spending time with friends/family, independence, being a force of positive energy, running, spiritual growth, and knowledge at the top of the priority list. In a sense, these are the quarters in my life; the things I tend to put most of my time and energy into.
The dimes, or the "less significant" aspects of my life, according to my thought processes, tend to be: cleaning, returning phone calls/e-mails, sleep, the places I buy groceries, the words I say from moment to moment, the strangers I interact with each day, and the random ideas that float through my head.
The nickels and pennies, or the "insignificant" aspects of my life--according to Ms. Thoughts--consist of the thousands of small choices I make each day: to drink coffee or tea, to smile at the old woman or just walk by, to write/read or veg out on the internet, to run in the rain or to take the day off, to offer an encouraging word or to say nothing at all, to try the new meditation class, to make the new recipe, to call the new friend, to call the old friend, or to save the extra dollar or spend it.
It's amazing how our minds naturally categorize and prioritize the matters of life. It's difficult to notice or realize our mental constructions unless we try a new medium, or a new way of percieving. Today, after stripping away my "thought processes", I realized the sheer stupidity (for lack of a better term) of my natural prioritization processes.
Our bodies, homes, cities, states, countries, continents, oceans, mountains, and universes are massive compilations of tiny atoms--millions of small elements, cells, and particles that create larger forms. I'm no scientist, but I know that in many cases the smallest mutation or alteration can surmount to the demise or creation of a larger piece of matter. Our lives are compilations of our smallest, minute-to-minute, day-to-day decsions. Without making a hundred small conscious decisions to save the dollar, I will never obtain the hundred dollar bill. Without consciously choosing to return phone calls or to say small, encouraging words each day, I cannot achieve the larger goal of being a good friend or being a force of positive energy. Without taking thousands upon thousands of small strides, I cannot achieve the larger goal of completing a marathon.
It's the pennies, nickels, and dimes that add up to the quarters. It's the small decisions that are the most significant.
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