The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.
— Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
Does walking help you think? Absolutely, I would say! In my experience, walking gets the mental juices flowing. Problems sometimes get reframed on a walk. Or a new question pops out at me. I walk for the exercise, but equally because it turbo-charges the way I think. Or is it that walking physically calms me down so that I don't get in my own way? Exercise is suggested for people like me who sometimes seem to struggle with ADD. My own routine is 10,000 steps per day, usually divided up into 2 or 3 sessions of walking. My Fitbit keeps me honest (about both my walking and my sleeping).
Jeremy DeSilva's "On the Link Between Great Thinking and Obsessive Walking" perambulates the topic of walking and thinking. He begins with the story of Charles Darwin, who took many walks along his "D" shaped path. Then he moves on to the science. Here's an excerpt:
A group of Stanford students were asked to list as many creative uses for common objects as they could. A Frisbee, for example, can be used as a dog toy, but it can also be used as a hat, a plate, a bird bath, or a small shovel. The more novel uses a student listed, the higher the creativity score. Half the students sat for an hour before they were given their test. The others walked on a treadmill. The results were staggering. Creativity scores improved by 60 percent after a walk.
Wow! Here's one more: Half of 65 couch-potatoes were put a moderate exercise routine (treadmill walking 3 times per week). The result? "[T]he walkers had significantly improved connectivity in regions of the brain understood to play an important role in our ability to think creatively."
So get out there and take a walk! Perhaps the cheapest form of exercise--and it might get your brain revving.
I've long been fascinated by the occasional willingness by people to go from idea to reality. Ideas are a dime a dozen. To move to reality takes that first step. Taking the first step takes courage, a willingness to possibly fail. That courage includes a willingness that other people (and often you, yourself) will laugh at your attempts that don't work. We need the strength to take that first step even though we know that many or most of those first steps will end in failure. Some of our first steps will even be laughed at by others, sometimes by others who we consider our friends. Good friends will support us even in our failed attempts. Good friends do not step on our dreams. Those who laugh at us for our failures are not good friends--they don't understand us and they don't understand what it takes to succeed. It takes grit It takes many failures to succeed.
Here's to good friends and courage and the ability to laugh back at those who laugh at our failures! Today's assignment: Go take that first step to make an idea become reality. Today, take that first step that will probably fail. The alternative is to waste away your life.
I recently watched the new documentary, "The Social Dilemma." which has inspired me to cut my usage of Facebook. Rather than simply scold myself to cut FB usage, I decided to create more detailed guidance for myself (and anyone else who finds this useful):
Facebook Safe-Usage Product Warnings
A. Use FB no more than 10 minutes per day (extra time allowed for posting content I create and for exchanging private messages). Set a timer. This limited use will function like the rule many people use for potato chips: Put a handful into a small bowl instead of gobbling them out from the full bag.
B. Before any FB session, remind myself that FB is a valuable and useful platform with serious hidden dangers. Thus, using FB is like using a dangerous consumer product where the manufacturer failed to attach necessary usage warnings.
C. Remind myself that FB has been meticulously designed as a highly-sophisticated manipulation engine. In the short run, FB is addictive. In the long run, FB encourages us to think like teams instead of as individuals and this it is ripping our communities apart.
D. Only use FB intentionally, never out of boredom, out of habit or thoughtlessly. Don’t use FB unless I’m using it consciously. Avoid using FB when I’m tired or fatigued, because these are times when I am especially prone to go down the FB rabbit hole.
E. Before using FB, always ask myself whether there is a better use of my time, such as directly reaching out to a friend or choosing my own next thought process.
F. Do not access FB from my phone.
G. Keep all FB notifications turned off, except for private messages.
H. Use FB for several defined purposes only. If I stray from these purposes, turn FB off.
1. Checking out what is up with people I know well.
2. Interacting with thoughtful people.
3. Reading and sharing interesting, inspiring and light-hearted posts.
4. Connecting with special-interest FB Groups that I have consciously chosen to join.
5. Keeping an eye on FB Events that I might want to attend.
6. Sharing my photography and articles I’ve written at Dangerous Intersection.
7. Sharing well-written articles that I have found outside of FB.
I. Whenever on FB, I should strive to use the same tone and degree of kindness that I use when communicating with someone in person.
J. My FB friends will mostly be feeding me a steady diet of articles that reenforce my existing opinions. Therefore, I need to remind myself to always look beyond FB to seek out diverse sources of information, including news sources that are not in my comfort zone.
K. Repeatedly remind myself that FB’s algorithms delude users into believing that those with differing opinions are idiots who we are entitled to treat rudely.
L. Whenever I sense that I am caught in a cycle of doom-scrolling, I should shut off FB.
M. Always vet articles for accuracy before sharing anything on FB.
N. Remind everyone I meet to watch the important new documentary: The Social Dilemma.
And I distrust anyone who fails to actively seek out information (articles, websites, books and everything else) that strongly challenges their own worldview.
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