If you’re thinking about resolutions, here are some thoughts about thinking:
THINK (Look before you leap!) Do I think before I react:
– when I read an email or newspaper or magazine or book?
– when I listen to somebody else in person or through the internet or on the radio or TV?
– when I watch a movie or video or play?
– when I chat, gossip, criticize, praise, or advocate?
– when I go to a rally or sporting event or assembly or religious service?
THINK CRITICALLY (Does it make sense?)
– Is what I see or hear fact or fiction?
– Does it make sense based on what I have experienced or know or believe or have been taught?
– Does it stand up to testing? What would happened if it were put into practice?
THINK FREELY (What am I afraid of?)
– Do I just echo or relay other people’s ideas or words?
– Do I trust my own judgements?
– Do I know enough about what I’m talking about?
– Do I have the courage to face the consequences of what I say or do?
– Am I afraid of disagreement or negative reaction or criticism or dismissal?
THINK REALISTICALLY (“Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me”)
– Do I confuse the impossible ideal with the real?
– Do I remember that living in the flawed human situation includes me, too?
– Do I remember that it’s “better to light one candle than to curse the darkness”?
– Does practice make perfect or just make us better or neither?
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
– Do I realize that there never has been, is, or will be a person exactly, 100 percent, like me?
– Do I realize that I may have to face or deal with a situation that in some ways is different from everybody else’s knowledge or experience?
– Do I realize that no one, short of God, knows all the right answers?
– Do I realize that just because something never happened before doesn’t mean it cannot happen now?
– When I come up with a new idea or recommendation or proposal for a solution to a problem, do I carefully explore its consequences and test it out before I decide if it’s right or good?
– Can I live without other people’s recognition or approval or esteem or applause?
– Can I live with other people’s criticism or misunderstanding or rejection or condemnation or ostracization?
THINK HUMBLY
– Do I realize or sometimes forget that I am a creation?
– Do I remember to seek to discern the designs and will of my creator?
– Do I have a fixed set of values? If so, what is their source?
– How do my thoughts, word, and deeds stand up in relation to my fundamental values?
– Do I remember that even those who explain, teach, or preach about the designs and will of God have their limitations and imperfections?
– Is “God help me!” part of my mind set?
3 January 2021