My grandmother say that the secret to living a good life is maintaining a flexible spine and a flexible mind. Whether we are talking about joints or brains, there is just no room for rigidity.
Mark Twain once made a comment that illustrates my grandmother's idea of perfect. He said:
"It is discouraging to try to penetrate the mind like yours. it should come out and dance on it. It would take some of the stiffness out of it ."
This is exactly what we need to do to be open to new ideas. We've got to get our brains and dancing on them! Do you twist. Do a little clogged. Tap. Cha-Cha. Shake it like a Polaroid picture.
This is exactly what we need to do to be open to new ideas. We've got to get our brains and dancing on them! Do you twist. Do a little clogged. Tap. Cha-Cha. Shake it like a Polaroid picture.
...is not that we are set to be rigid. We establish certain patterns of thinking and build the entire system of belief that May or May not serve us well. At some point, we got complacent, lazy, or just plain clueless about the boxes we build for ourselves.
We humans are an interesting way of hanging on to old thoughts and beliefs. We ended up with a closet full of ideas past their shelf life - unexamined, unused, but still occupies the space
.Our thoughts become incredibly repetitive as some characters pop up throughout the day.
Suppose that every morning, you can listen to news, full of turmoil and despair, and it reminds you that you are not sure if you want to have a child with so much uncertainty in the world. Then you get into the shower and get ready for work, and as you look in the mirror, you realize you're not getting any younger, and perhaps it is better to make that decision to have children now, while you still can. And then, while driving to work, passing the school, and you calculate how many years you will be when your child the same age as the students see. Then you get into the office and wonder how you want to be able to juggle work and family at the same time.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Every day.
This is just one example. There are many. It could be about your job, your weight, your relationships - you know the top ten things on your own mental list. Whatever you're facing in life, you have cues to bring it up for you again and again. You thought about it yesterday, you're thinking about it today, and you're going to think about it again tomorrow.
What if some applied thinking? Not only is a casual kind of obsessed with doing every day, but serious thought applied?
We must learn how to think more efficiently and effectively. Dr. Edward de Bono is a former Rhodes scholar who was at the University of Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard universities. He is considered the world's leading authority on creative thinking.
Ok, the guy is brilliant. But the cool thing about de Bono is that he was not interested in revealing his method only to those who breathed the air rarified world's best universities. He is passionate about developing a way to teach creative thinking that is so simple even five years could benefit from it.
Ok, the guy is brilliant. But the cool thing about de Bono is that he was not interested in revealing his method only to those who breathed the air rarified world's best universities. He is passionate about developing a way to teach creative thinking that is so simple even five years could benefit from it.
...He coined the term "lateral thinking" and set about developing a clear, visual ways to improve the way we think. He uses the image of the car. Just because you're in a good, quality car does not mean you're a good driver. You have to learn how to drive. Some people are better than others, but anyone can acquire a reasonable amount of skill. You must have the desire to learn and spend time practicing. Once you become good at it, it's easy and comfortable.
...De Bono inspires us to develop a broad view. expand their knowledge base, the better your thinking. De Bono actually came up with the phrase, "think outside the box" - but do not hold that against him! There remains a clear picture and a permanent part of our language, because it immediately transferred the concept of stepping outside of our regular patterns.
make your own lateral thinking to see where it leads. When you find yourself stuck in your thoughts-of-the-day cycle, going wide. Jump on the track. Deliberately take your thoughts into a new direction.
Decide on a certain note - say, when I look in the mirror and notice wrinkles or gray hair - and instead of your usual "I'm-getting-so-old" whining, picture yourself with white hair and crinkly eyes . Imagine what you'll be doing when you're old. Escape into a daydream of a dream come true to see friends and family around you. Stop dreading the process and focus on a brilliant 85-year-old, who will be amazing and fun to everyone.
Decide on a certain note - say, when I look in the mirror and notice wrinkles or gray hair - and instead of your usual "I'm-getting-so-old" whining, picture yourself with white hair and crinkly eyes . Imagine what you'll be doing when you're old. Escape into a daydream of a dream come true to see friends and family around you. Stop dreading the process and focus on a brilliant 85-year-old, who will be amazing and fun to everyone.
...Decide on a certain note - say, when I look in the mirror and notice wrinkles or gray hair - and instead of your usual "I'm-getting-so-old" whining, picture yourself with white hair and crinkly eyes . Imagine what you'll be doing when you're old. Escape into a daydream of a dream come true to see friends and family around you. Stop dreading the process and focus on a brilliant 85-year-old, who will be amazing and fun to everyone.
...Take your brain out to dance in this daring new direction.
Flex and stretch at every opportunity. Feel it becomes more pliable, supple, and --- why not? --- sexy.
Cha-cha-cha, Grandma!
