Is Your Mind Always Busy but Never Thinking?

Three people around me on a recent plane flight were watching movies on personal small screen devices sitting in their lap. Others had their cell phones set on “airline mode,” which allowed them to play electronic games in flight. Many passengers were listening to iPods, Zunes, Walkmans or other types of MP3 players. Some were reading from Kindles.

In the state where I live, it is legal to use cell phones while driving. Occasionally, I count the number of drivers I meet in traffic who are on their cells. Typically, it is much more than 50 percent! People walking their dogs by my house or jogging through the neighborhood have their earbuds in, listening to music, radio or podcasts.

The choices today of devices for entertainment and information are great! They are a lot of fun.

But I wonder if people ever take time to think. Of course, we think all the time, for the mind is always at work. But I’m talking about developed or thematic thinking—thinking that is focused at length on one or more related subjects so the mind fully explores all possibilities.

Call it “exercise for the mind.”

This type of thinking unleashes creativity you might not even know you possessed! When you commit a block of time—say 20 or 30 minutes—to think through every possible aspect of just one subject, you might be surprised. It unlocks thoughts that are just below your awareness level, allowing you to solve issues that have escaped resolution.

Another word for this kind of dedicated thinking is meditation. Don’t confuse it with the practice of Eastern religions. What I’m referring to is simply concentrating your thoughts so you can amplify their effectiveness.

This type of meditation about relationship issues might reveal keys to solving problems that have eluded you. Perhaps you’ll see when, where, why or how you said something amiss that harmed your relationship with another person. 

You can also begin to change your behavior by changing your thinking. That is, when thinking deeply about an issue, you can picture yourself saying “the right thing” instead of what you did say. You can picture yourself doing what you know you should have done, instead of what you did. It truly can improve your behavior when you are next in a similar situation.

The most important of our relationships is the one we have (or should have) with God. It begins with dedicating time to think about who He is, what He wants of you and whether you are living up to His expectations. A revealing verse in the Psalms says, “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4). Just as with human relationships, a healthy connection with God doesn’t “just happen.”

Meditating on what God says is important because we humans don’t automatically have all the answers to life’s problems. As Jeremiah noted, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). As helpful as meditation can be, we still need God’s wisdom and guidance.

One of the reasons we often have difficulty meditating is because information and entertainment seemingly bombard us at every waking moment. Instead of choosing how we will direct our thinking, it seems to be determined for us. So, problems that could be solved by following God’s instructions are not. Relationships that could be repaired are not. Improvements that we could make in our lives don’t happen all because we are robbed of the time to think about how God encourages us to live.

Make a choice! Occasionally turn off the things that compete for your attention and commit some time to dedicated thought.