'Thought'

I find myself telling other people soaked in their problems something others have once told me:

"Don't think too much"

There are times when our worries overwhelm our rationale, bringing our minds to places where it cannot handle.

It is natural to think ahead. We worry so that we are more vigilant when it comes to something critical.

But when things go out of hand, we wonder around too much and lost our way.

Our emotions get carried away. The little things become big, and the really important things become small.

Your mind wonders everywhere but nowhere, the really critical things that require attention get little if any at all.

Calm is what make everything from the past.

A little calm goes a long way to restoring clarity in the mind.

Calm is often discredited as boredom, but is boredom really that bad after all?

It is a luxury, when we have nothing immediate to worry about.

This is where we slow everything down, separate the big from the small and cast out what is unimportant from our minds.

Only then can our mind allocate resources to where it matters, and when decisions can be accurate.

Knowing when to be sad and when to stop before it causes lasting harm.

At times it is good to be sad about the past, because it drives in a lasting reminder of what not to be again.

This is where we don't get our emotion get mixed with what ought to be done.

Very often we know what needs to be done. It is just our emotions distorting and deviating our minds away from what is right.

Our desires, the shortcuts we hope to get, and sometimes even leaving everything to luck.

We attribute things to luck too easily. What luck has in store for us we will never know, but we can prepare ourselves should it strike for the worse, or ride on its winds should it be favourable to us.

After taking into account these deviations and, as much as possible by subtracting them from the situation, we get a clearer picture of what we want.

That confusion is gone.

Piece by piece a complex problem is broken down into understandable pieces, examined carefully and put back again, this time with a workable plan in place.

A plan that is sustainable, achievable and yet not too half-hearted.

Emotions are things that we want, but they may not necessary be things that needs to be done.

Take them into account, study them and understand them, so that one will not be dragged along by them and not return to where he belongs.

And bearing in mind that nothing comes free, and when we want something effort must be put in. If in our laziness we decide to put in less effort than ideal, we must be prepared to accept a less than ideal situation.

No complains, less conflict, more calm, more clarity.

And life becomes less complex and more understandable.

Everything can be reasoned out and rationalized, even something as complex and multi-layered as emotions.

We do give too much awe and amazement to emotions at times, such that we are not aware they too are logically structured and can be effectively discerned.

Because of emotions, we cut short a plan and deviate away from what is right.

Once emotions are taken into account, substituted and goes side by side with a plan, it is more likely to be executed in full. This is where our goals can be achieved.

And the little goals we have form the big picture where larger goals can be achieved.

Remember your little sanctuary of calm.

Enjoy its soothing embrace and let your mind be free for a while, but be wary not to be too intoxicated by it and forget what needs to be done.

Here it becomes escapism and no longer solves the problem.

The same process can be used to decide if any action or plan is required at all in the first place, understanding that some things are best left untouched.

They might be there for a reason, and it is up to us to find it out and reason with it. This in turn, is a different thing altogether again.

At the end of it all, it is equally important to know when to say 'stop', and get back to the work at hand or if it is worth giving any more thought to the question at hand.

This is what I have learnt thus far.

Nothing to be proud about.

Just want to find out the way things work:

Life still remains logical.

At times it is good to put in extra thought into matters.

The question is where, when and what.

What should be the focus and what should not be.

When we should be focused on the immediate task at hand and not let our concerns overwhelm us.

To give thought to everything at once means giving no thought to anything at all.

And there are times when nothing should be thought of at all. We rest and give our minds space to be focused again.

Never lie to yourself. Never let your emotions lie to you about what is right.

With these, I go forward in great hope that the past will never happen again.

It had been too costly and too painful.