[A couple of years ago, I started an inspiration collection of poems, quotes, and thoughts that I keep on index cards in a pretty box. Every morning I pull a card and place it where I can see it throughout the day. This simple practice has helped support me and keep me centered and grounded during times of challenge and times of delight. I’d like to share some of these with you, so I’m starting a new series on this blog to do just that. I hope these occasional posts will lift your spirit and perhaps inspire you to share some of your own thoughts and quotes that warm your heart. So here’s the first one.]
The important thing is not to think much but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens you to love. ~Teresa of Avila
Thinking, in my humble opinion, is highly overrated in our western culture. Ever since our very existence was linked to thinking by Descartes in his famous declaration “I think, therefore I am,” we have put all our faith and trust in our busy, thinking brains. But has that brought us lasting peace? Has that brought us abiding joy? Perhaps we might consider the cautionary book title Don’t Believe Everything You Think.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m fond of my brain and I appreciate its thinking capabilities. At the same time, I recognize its limitations and I don’t ask it to operate in realms beyond its reach. Much of what I value most in life – family, love, connection, compassion, kindness, expansion, liberation, peace, intuition, gratitude, and more – is not sourced in rational thought. On the contrary, many of these things defy logic. And yet they give my life meaning and joy and contentment.
So perhaps we can consider giving our overtaxed brains a break. When it’s time to think, then let them do their thing. But if our primary focus is on whatever best awakens us to love, then love will permeate our entire being, and even our thoughts will align with our highest good.
Any thoughts? Ha!