Summary – When the mind thinks too much, choose the best obvious solution.
A common sense question, two guys were in Malaysia. Both of them need to go to Japan. The first guy took a flight to the west, making stops at India, Africa, USA and finally crosssed the Pacific Ocean to Japan. Another took a flight straight to Japan. Assuming both of them departed at the same time, who will reach Japan first?

Obvious isn’t it? Of course it’s the guy who took the flight straight to Japan. We don’t even need to explain why. We are actually more curious as to why the first guy travelled around the world to reach Japan..

Taking the longer way to reach a destination easily reached via another way is laughable. But why are we doing the same thing with our mind?

If we are told to take out the garbage. Why are we making so much effort to procrastinate it, or to avoid doing it. We told ourselves that we are going to do it when we are going out later, but when it’s time to go out, we tried to forget the task. After a week, the garbage was starting to smell and then only we took it out.

In the end, we still need to do it because nobody else is living with us. Why can’t we just take it out when the task first appear.

However, this article is NOT about procrastination. It’s about our way of thinking that we need to review. We tend to think the more complex way in every situation. Allow me to elaborate via these examples :

Example 1 – You miss your boyfriend. You want to hear his voice.

• The complex mind will say – If I call him, he will think I’m desperate. But if I didn’t call him, he may think that I’m no longer interested with him. When is the last time I call him? Oh my God, it’s only yesterday. Am I calling him every day now? What’s wrong with me?

• The simple mind will say – I know that in the end, I just want to hear his voice. (kring kring Hi I miss you.)

Example 2 – A teacher is asking a question. You think you know the answer.

• The complex mind will say – What if I’m wrong? people will laugh at me, thinking I’m stupid. What if from that time on, when people look at me, they will start laughing. I will ruin my whole school life if I answered the question. But if I didn’t answer the question, how can I learn? Hm If I did answer it, and it turns out I’m correct, people will see I’m not just a pretty face. Or maybe they will think of me as a show off.

• The simple mind will say – I know the answer, I should then answer the question. (The answer is D sir.)

Example 3 – Your supervisor just resigned. And you really want his position.

• The complex mind will say – Should I apply? Isn’t this kind of promotion is internal, and the human resource will make their own decision on who will be qualified. I have been an assistant for some time, they should know that the best person for the job is me. But.. I wonder if my fellow colleague will think of me as self promoting if I applied for the position.

• The simple mind will say – There’s a vacancy, I’m qualified and I want it. What am I still doing here (Hello, I have an appointment with the manager of human resource)

/end examples

The mind is naturally that way. You can’t change this. It will always wander around aimlessly. It’s your job though to know how to control it. Never try to stop thinking either. That will bring you more harm than good. It’s just that sometimes, when we notice that we are thinking too much, stop everything and just choose the best obvious solution.

Just like the guy flying to Japan. It’s so obvious, it can’t be wrong.

– I wonder –
Which are you? The complex mind or the simple mind?

———– Personal Note ————
It was my anniversary last Monday. Happy anniversary my dear mrs. 🙂 Thank you for the gift

Photo Credit – tetraconz

Don't want to miss a single tip? Get updates via RSS (Full) or Email