At some point over the last few decades or so, the prominence of thought and the power of thought took hold of Western thinking, and hasn’t let go since. That we should view our thoughts, as if outside ourselves. That we should sit with our thoughts. That we should try and change our thoughts in a more positive direction. That only we, as captains of our own ship, have the power to change the direction of our lives. Our thoughts have given birth to DRT, CRT, and a bevy of of other capital letter salads at the psychology buffet, in hopes of analyzing who “we”, specifically are, and why we think what we do, as if this is hidden in some far corner of the mind, just waiting to be rescued.
Certainly, the dissection of thought, it’s origins, and it’s implications on our every day choices is a worthwhile goal, but it, most times, comes at the cost of action. We are so well versed these days in the concepts surrounding changing our thought patterns, that we believe (we are made to believe) that the work is simply more thinking. You can theoretically always be working by always reading more books on thoughts and your thoughts and why you think what you do and how your mother, when you were 5, really did this thing and now you’re 56 and of course you act the way you act because of that thing. That may masquerade as the work, but does it actually change anything. Yes, perhaps the curtains are opened just a bit, but perhaps they must be ripped off, and the ripping off requires the physical. And we are not talking that much about the physical, and the physical should probably be placed in an area of more prominence.
If you absolutely abhor your job or where you live, you are now faced with three basic decisions. The first is to seek professional counseling where you can dig deep into specifically why you do not like where you live or where you work, and what you’d rather be doing (for money), as if you know this thing and merely forgot about it and are now two decades into a career which does not seem worthwhile to you, but thankfully here you remembered you always wanted to be a pilot. Often, even if you do find “clarity”, and, mind you, you’re not sure where this clarity comes from or why you didn’t know about this before you sat down on the couch at $350/hr, you will, wholeheartedly, with every fiber in your being, desire to change your life and you won’t. You won’t because the action requires the action and there is a cost to the action, but the thought, outside of the hourly fee, is very much free. The second choice is to grin and bear it. Double down. Find things from your home life and your work life that you can live with, and re-frame the way you look at these thing. In this rather grotesque scenario which is served up quite often these days, you need to actively trick yourself and deny the feelings you’re feeling every second of every day and tell yourself “No, you are wrong. This job is redeemable, as is where I live, and I simply must, no matter what genetics tell me, look at this in a different way. You are force fed the idea of being grateful for this home and job because did you know many people are dying around the world and so far your death has been postponed so please stop being so trivial about the small things in life. This will, no doubt, lead to the shrink, and we circle and circle. The third choice, the most violent of the choices, is to quit your job and move. This involves almost no thinking. This involves almost nothing other than action. It’s pure, mainline, clear action. It’s brilliant in its lack of alternative. You haven’t the faintest idea what’s behind this door but you don’t care, since you know what’s behind the others. Very few people make this choice and those that do may often regret it, but that’s almost besides the point. We are, for all intents and purposes, subjected to so much inertia to think about things rather than do the things, that doing the things is an act of revolution.
The doing the thing doesn’t have to be so drastic. It could be doing wind sprints in your backyard. It could be planting a tomato. It could be selling your car, buying a cheaper one, driving to the airport and booking a ticket to a place you see without ever once thinking “What happens if I don’t have pants for dinner.” This comes callously close to spontaneity but it is not spontaneity. It is action for actions own seek. Outrospection (interestingly, not a word) instead of introspection.
We are all too guilty of this. We stew in our emotions and we vaguely attack our problems until our lasagna is ready and then we put them to the side, waiting for our feelings to change. Then, we die. But taking the action has nothing to do with nihilism or existentialism or even re-incarnation. Taking the action helps our muscles get used to taking the action, and hopefully things work out and maybe not, but you’re much, much, much more apt to take further actions if you took the first one. Buy a stock you like. Go ballroom dancing. Divorce. Cook beans. Whatever.
What happens when all we do is think about thinking and obtain wisdom but don’t ever actually practice it. The stoics and the Buddhists and the Christians and the Jews explicitly warn us about this. Bring God into the world through action. Practice meditation not on the cushion, but in your life. All of this, all of the ancients and the old men, and all of nature tell us, implore us, scream at us, to simply take action. We should follow their advice.