Thinking about Thinking
Reflection is not only about debating specific issues, questions, or ideas. The reflective exercise should also include thinking about how you think in the first place. Knowing how you think means that you are close to knowing who you are, and how you want to live your life. Your thoughts shape your life. The way you think is how you can control your destiny. Ultimate peace is knowing thyself. Thinking about my thinking today.
My thinking process has been significantly refined through reading books and professional journals. I've been reading ever since my first Nancy Drew book and ended up reading the entire detective series. I guess that could have been the start of my own detective story. Anyway, jokes apart, reading does refine your thinking. Vocabulary increases as you raise the level of the material you read, thus enhancing the quality of the ideas that get transmitted to your brain. My advice to anybody who wants to raise the quality of their thought process is to make it a daily practice to read material that is well-written, contains cohesive arguments that follow the rules of logic, and of course peeks your interest in such a way that it forces you to make choices about how positively you want to live your life. Another very important piece of advice is not to read trash. Trashy reading makes one lead that sort of life. (Ladies, by that I mean stop spending your precious time on fashion magazines that dehumanize your feminine spirit.)
My philosophical mind has been further affected by penning down my thoughts on paper. This does wonders if you're confused about a concept you wish to understand, disprove, or revise. I can't express the beautiful experience of writing and re-writing a logically coherent piece of work that excites your mind. Reading and writing sure do come close to that sublime mystical state of mind. Write it down and be aware of your feelings, the way you perceive your surroundings, and how you respond to people of diverse nature and background. Analyze yourself thoroughly (instead of analyzing your significant other most of the time). Writing about your day, your week, your moods, your relationships, your purpose, and your genuine experiences will get you to a renewed self-awareness. I guarantee that the quality of your thoughts will get better and better as a result of this constant self-validation practice.
Like reading, there is also a dangerous tendency to your well-being if you don't practice the writing technique the right way. You can write about whatever it is you are feeling, but yes I do believe there are some ground rules:
1. Do not use your personal diary to reinforce any subconscious beliefs that can lead to depression. In other words, 'don't drink when you're sad'. It is so important to be able to trace your moods back to their source, and control them. Don't ever let your personal diary become an excuse for self-pity.
2. Have a purpose to writing your thoughts down. Before you spill out your feelings in your journal, be sure to write out a compelling "question of the hour/day/week/year". This is a way to give direction to your writing. A challenging and exciting question will focus the quality of your thoughts into seeking your own right answers. A guiding question must force you to come up with an answer that satisfies you after you're done writing. Closure is essential in our thoughts as it gets us in final contact with reality.
For your thoughts to be crisp with logic and true belief, you must learn to still your mind. Focus and concentration are the most important assets the mind has for nourishment of the brain. One way is to still your mind. Meditation has been an age-old practice for centuries. With so many distractions and pollutions, it is wise to take the time out and sit alone in silence, stilling your mind so that it is refreshed when you need to turn it on. The name of this ultimate game is discipline. The next time you're driving to work, turn off the radio and attempt to think of nothing. The best way to think is truly not to think during the time you absolutely don't need to. So make time to be silent and absorb the vacuum. Your thoughts will be far more clearer at your 8 a.m. meeting.
The reason I've posted this entry is to send one all-important message: philosophical arguments are ultimately about the way you execute your self. Your body, the language you use, your mannerisms, the way you treat yourself, all reflect your thoughts. When you get to a higer conscious state of awareness, you'll be able to tell people's thoughts from just the way they come across. Your thought process reflects the reactions to your subjective life experiences. Think about it.
My thinking process has been significantly refined through reading books and professional journals. I've been reading ever since my first Nancy Drew book and ended up reading the entire detective series. I guess that could have been the start of my own detective story. Anyway, jokes apart, reading does refine your thinking. Vocabulary increases as you raise the level of the material you read, thus enhancing the quality of the ideas that get transmitted to your brain. My advice to anybody who wants to raise the quality of their thought process is to make it a daily practice to read material that is well-written, contains cohesive arguments that follow the rules of logic, and of course peeks your interest in such a way that it forces you to make choices about how positively you want to live your life. Another very important piece of advice is not to read trash. Trashy reading makes one lead that sort of life. (Ladies, by that I mean stop spending your precious time on fashion magazines that dehumanize your feminine spirit.)
My philosophical mind has been further affected by penning down my thoughts on paper. This does wonders if you're confused about a concept you wish to understand, disprove, or revise. I can't express the beautiful experience of writing and re-writing a logically coherent piece of work that excites your mind. Reading and writing sure do come close to that sublime mystical state of mind. Write it down and be aware of your feelings, the way you perceive your surroundings, and how you respond to people of diverse nature and background. Analyze yourself thoroughly (instead of analyzing your significant other most of the time). Writing about your day, your week, your moods, your relationships, your purpose, and your genuine experiences will get you to a renewed self-awareness. I guarantee that the quality of your thoughts will get better and better as a result of this constant self-validation practice.
Like reading, there is also a dangerous tendency to your well-being if you don't practice the writing technique the right way. You can write about whatever it is you are feeling, but yes I do believe there are some ground rules:
1. Do not use your personal diary to reinforce any subconscious beliefs that can lead to depression. In other words, 'don't drink when you're sad'. It is so important to be able to trace your moods back to their source, and control them. Don't ever let your personal diary become an excuse for self-pity.
2. Have a purpose to writing your thoughts down. Before you spill out your feelings in your journal, be sure to write out a compelling "question of the hour/day/week/year". This is a way to give direction to your writing. A challenging and exciting question will focus the quality of your thoughts into seeking your own right answers. A guiding question must force you to come up with an answer that satisfies you after you're done writing. Closure is essential in our thoughts as it gets us in final contact with reality.
For your thoughts to be crisp with logic and true belief, you must learn to still your mind. Focus and concentration are the most important assets the mind has for nourishment of the brain. One way is to still your mind. Meditation has been an age-old practice for centuries. With so many distractions and pollutions, it is wise to take the time out and sit alone in silence, stilling your mind so that it is refreshed when you need to turn it on. The name of this ultimate game is discipline. The next time you're driving to work, turn off the radio and attempt to think of nothing. The best way to think is truly not to think during the time you absolutely don't need to. So make time to be silent and absorb the vacuum. Your thoughts will be far more clearer at your 8 a.m. meeting.
The reason I've posted this entry is to send one all-important message: philosophical arguments are ultimately about the way you execute your self. Your body, the language you use, your mannerisms, the way you treat yourself, all reflect your thoughts. When you get to a higer conscious state of awareness, you'll be able to tell people's thoughts from just the way they come across. Your thought process reflects the reactions to your subjective life experiences. Think about it.
posted by Mubeena Mohammed at 9:06 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks so much for writing this. So true. In the process of being more and more self-aware
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