A strange thing
January 11, 2012
Preface: This entry, and this blog is me trying to make sense of the world. My personal thoughts, musings, opinions, anecdotes which may or may not be factually correct, but merely my interpretation of the world.
The ultimate double edged sword, and the greatest gift we each have, is our own minds. It truly is extraordinary.. the limits, or lack thereof, of what the human brain can come up. It’s given us countless art forms, languages, taken us to the moon, to the depths of the ocean floor, to the tiniest nanoparticles. Yet, there is a time and place for everything..
See, our minds can also be our greatest hindrance to our bodies. Think about when you were learning something for the first time.. a sport, an instrument, etc. At first, it was very difficult and required a lot of mental concentration. But, as you improve, the mind steps aside and ironically, the less you think about it, the better you perform. How do you get to that point? Practice, practice practice. Practice until it becomes second nature.. from a tentative uncertainty as you start out, to a comfortable level, to second nature without having to think at all. Then in high pressure situations, tell your mind to take a nap. Get out of the way so you can do what comes naturally. In booting the game winning kick, Michigan State’s kicker was taught by his coach to think about brunette girls on a beach. Don’t think about the situation.. the potentials and ”what if”s. Let your body do what comes natural.
Maybe that’s why people meditate.. we’re too much in our heads. Especially now with the cell phone culture, the mp3 players and iPods.. just plug in headphones, wander through your mind.. when it comes time to talk to someone, there’s that bit of awkwardness as we try to come back out of our heads because somewhere down the line, social interaction with other people has become unnatural and interaction with things, with technology, has become second nature. Am I the only one that finds that strange?
