The way I see it, you are either thinking about something, listening to someone or thinking about nothing. And my premise is that we are really good at the thinking and listening but do not really focus on the “nothing”. As a matter of fact I think that it is really hard to think about nothing and it takes a lot of practice to get good at it.

By now you might be a bit confused – how do we focus on nothing or why we would do such a thing? Well the premise is that as you travel on the journey to THPL there will be times when parts of the journey are long and non-descript and/or of minimal consequence or you just need time away Examples could be a long run, a long drive, and/or a long time sitting. And in each of these instances, our “normal” is to be using our brain and its companion components (eyes, ears etc). And this is all fine and good. The alternative is to think of nothing – and to see if you indeed have the power to do so.

For those living THPL it can be a challenge as we find it exhilarating to focus on new learning’s, on seeing the sites around us and just exploring something new. However, if we are to take our THPL to the next level we have to find times when the best thing we can do is to think about nothing. I have practiced this on long runs – no music, no work, no nothing, I focus on clearing my head and on putting one foot in front of the other – I focus on the rhythm and the cadence. After a few minutes they lock in and slowly my mind clears. And when it works I realize that a long distance has gone by and I did not even realize it. It is very cool and worth working on. It truly is the power of concentration at work.

I recommend you give it a try – and to practice here is a web site to test yourself on – just a two minute test – see if you feel the same way that many do – it feels long and short at the same time. Enjoy http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/

Loving life and nothing at the same time

Ciao

joe