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Parallels in life have proved to help provide a perspective that really helps thought life (well this is what we have come to believe at Thinking Mechanics). The word parallel stems back to two Greek words that means "alongside" + "one another". At Thinking Mechanics we will talk a lot about how we can take lessons from aspects of life that can be compared "alongside one another" in order to help our journey of changing our thinking to help transforms our lives.
Debbie (a friend of the Thinking Mechanics team) is an angelic women. Blessed with a kind, sharing and generous heart. Debbie donates her time at a local womens hospice where she serves to help women who have escaped a domestic violence situation or are recovering for an addiction problem. The hospice gets a variety of goods donated including items of clothing as well food. All of which are of very high quality but not all the items are able to be used or inherited by the women. Debbie, in her generous spirit, packs up all the unwanted donations and makes a quick trip over to the Thinking Mechanics headquarters to surprise the Thinking Mechanics household with the variety and array of clothing and food.
It feels like a mini-Christmas when she arrives. Many of the donated clothes are for children so the three young children of the Thinking Mechanics household posses a festive-like giddiness when they see Debbie arrive. Food of all types is also part of what is donated so along with the clothes a calm descends as the sorting process begins. With the clothes the criteria as to whether it is kept or not is based on whether it is a good fit now or will be a good fit in about 6 months for the respective child the item is appropriate for. The food is assessed on its nutritional value with any items with a high sugar content immediately ejected.
The parallel of food and thought
So, we arrive at the lesson we learned. You see, much like Debbie appearing at our front door, our thoughts can suddenly, and unannounced, appear in our minds. Debbie appears with stuff much like thoughts appear with "stuff" attach to them. This can be words about you, about someone else, or a situation you are experiencing or are about to experience. The stuff that Debbie delivers is then sorted however in many cases the same does not occur with what arrives in our heads. Our thoughts can also be processed and sorted out much like we do when assessing what clothes and food is kept. We assess the food we eat and the clothes we wear based on their usefulness and value to us. Any item that cannot be used or provides no (nutritional) value is discarded. Well, the same applies to our thoughts however on many occasions the same assessment rigor is not applied.
One of the most effective tools you have as a Thinking Mechanic is the ability to think about what you are thinking about. It is surprising how many of us allow the stuff carried by our thoughts to enter our minds and remain rather than sorting them and asking ourselves - if I let this thought remain in my head - does it help and add value to me or does it do the opposite?
Food for thought.
Thanks for your time.
Until our next install - think well and think good.