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Hi Thinking Mechanic-ians!
We hope you are well and you are taking care of your thoughts. We need to remember that what we are thinking about, what we apply focus and belief to will eventually materialise in our life. We never get tired of reminding ourselves and you of that life-law.
This week’s thought-food comes from an inspirational story from an 11 year old. In fact - the 11 year old is none other than the Thinking Mechanics’ own daughter (Apprentice Mechanic as she is affectionately called) who was given her little nugget of inspiration from her wise grandma (who we still call grandma - no mechanic orientated nicknames for grandma).
The story goes back to when grandma was at school. In an English exam the teacher handed out a piece of paper that had nothing on it except for a small black dot in the centre of the page. The exam was to write an essay piece that spoke about the dot. That was it. No further instructions - write an essay about the black dot on the white paper. We shall look past the almost cruel nature of what that must have been like for the children sitting this exam to focus more on the interesting conclusion. When all the essays were handed in and subsequently graded and then handed back to the children a very thought-provoking piece of feedback was provided by the teacher. “...all of the essays were excellent” remarked the teacher ”except for one surprise…” which left the children waited in anticipation “...you all seemed so focused on writing about and exploring the black dot that you all forget to pay any attention to the white expanse surrounding it....”
There was a lingering and collective silence amongst the Thinking Mechanics crew when grandma delivered the final piece of the story. We are sure you most probably experienced the same thing too.
Of course, it doesn’t take much to understand the perspective and the immediate life lesson that can be garnered from this story.
We all have black dots in our lives which by default also means we all have the “white expanse” surrounding them too.
What are our black dots? Well, they can representative of many areas of our lives but the Thinking Mechanics crew immediately leant (of course) to how the story is illustrative of our thought life. We can sometimes get so focused, like a laser, on any aspect of our lives. Our marriage may not be great. Our money/savings could be better. Our kids could be doing better at school. A boss is difficult. A work project is not going to plan. Whatever it is, our thoughts can very quickly become representative of the black dot. Our heads seem full of ‘black dot” thinking as we start to think about and focus on particular situations in our life.
Out of all the black dots though - none of them can come even close to being compared to the “white expanse” that surrounds them. What does that mean? Well - we have so much to be grateful for. We are blessed. It can seem to be hard to look away from the “dots” and turn to assess the “white expanse” around them with a grateful attitude. In a later post we will talk about the ‘should Vs must’ battle we seem to wage in our lives. To look at the “white expanse” as it applies to our life experience really needs to be a “must” if we are to become disciplined with our thought life.
So, what is the “white expanse”? Well - it’s what you wake up to everyday. Your life. It’s what we all wake up to everyday. We can either choose to focus on the black dots or choose to engage with the white expanse around them. This can be as simple as saying out loud “today is a good day and an am enjoying my life”. It can be as simple as going for an early morning walk/jog/run and just breathing the air into your lungs deeper than you have done before. It can be going to the coffee shop and giving the barista a compliment about how great they made your coffee. It can be waking up and saying to your kids and/or partner that you love them. It can be going to work in the car and turning the radio right up and blasting out that song you love. It all sounds like a Jerry Maguire movie - we know - but the truth is - your life is the “white expanse”. We can all get so focused on the black dots that we can forget to stop, look up and simply say “thank you for another day”.
Remember - you are a winner and a prosperity creator.
Until the next thought-food installment, think well and think good.
Blessings from the Thinking Mechanics crew.