Ideas are the software that run on the hardware of our minds, and reflection is the only tool we have to reliably maintain and update it.

This is the true nature of unchecked thought – random, uninvited, and sporadic appearances in consciousness. And when we allow the allure of these random appearances to dictate the direction of our lives, this is what leads us to fall onto the impulsive, ruminative side of the Thought See-Saw.

Am I currently on the right side of thought?

Our thoughts provide the lens in which we view the world, and have created everything we experience today. To denounce their existence would render us delusional, but to give them unchecked power would turn us into slaves. The true power of thought resides somewhere between these poles, and that point can only be accessed through the careful... See more

However, I have a feeling that most of you are not wrestling between using thought for good and using it for terror. The issue of choosing between enlightening ideas and toxic ones may certainly represent a struggle for us, but I’m pretty sure that this battle wasn’t what my mom was referring to when she was telling me to stop thinking so much.

Thoughts are so powerful because each one offers a deeply compelling interpretation of our reality. It has the unique ability to assign meaning to a given event, as the event itself doesn’t intrinsically come with an associated emotion. For example, if we get laid off from a job, the layoff itself is simply an objective event with no innate,... See more

Without being aware that we are being pulled into this tide at every moment, we are at the whims of our impulses, blindly giving in to every wave that strikes the neurons of our monkey minds. If we don’t take a moment to pause and view the texture of these waves, how can we be expected to ride them without crashing? If we don’t take the time to... See more

We like to believe that we are the conscious authors of our thoughts, believing that these intentions and directives come from a structured, orderly place where willpower reigns supreme. However, if you take a brief moment to sit down in silence for just a minute or two, you’ll notice that the nature of thought is anything but that. Almost... See more

Reflecting on the nature of thought may not come naturally, but it can be trained with consistent practice. In the same way our muscles don’t bulk up without physical exercise, our minds won’t sharpen up without adequate mental training. Contemplative practices like meditation and prayer contribute to this type of project, but much of it starts by... See more