Amazing … what lies within. How do we protect ourselves from being herded like mindless cattle in a world quick to condemn? What have we always known, long ago taught? Treasure independent thought. Here are 15 questions to help do that.
One: Ask yourself, as you read the news or ponder the day, do I value my own thoughts? Do I still have original thoughts, yours versus others? Question what others do not.
Two: Do you let little, crazy, hysterical stuff roll-off? Consciously distinguish big from little, just ditch the dirt, shrug at nonsense? Making that choice brings calm.
Three: Do you give yourself some “think time” from chaos, a little time each day to ponder what you think, and …time for exercise and no thinking at all?
Wrote Thomas Jefferson: “Take a great deal of exercise and on foot. Of all the exercises, walking is the best … No one knows, till he tries, how easily a habit of walking is acquired.”
Jefferson, a thinker among thinkers, added this: “Never think of taking a book with you. The object of walking is to relax the mind… Divert yourself by the objects around you.”
Four: Do you find perspective in others’ crazy talk? Sometimes, ironically, the negative proof is what we really need to see. Truth stands out against absurdity.
Five: Do you ask “What if” – but not too often? Imagination is a gift, kept close. Jefferson studied Jean-Jaques Rousseau when writing our Declaration. The two men pushed imagination in political thought, Rousseau – father of citizen sovereignty – writing: “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”
Simpler, when focused in the right direction, imagination prompts creativity. Or as Theodore Geisel, Dr. Seuss said: “I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells.”
Six: Do you see bigness and smallness in yourself and celebrate them both? Confidence and fortitude are vital. Humility, tranquility, and gratitude are more so.
Seven: Do you find solace in nature, its patterns, and its randomness? Lessons seem to live there, ripe fruit ready for picking. For my time, nature never disappoints.
Eight: Do uncertainties invite, or scare you? Are they opportunities to think, learn, explore, invest, believe, or a source of unease? Why did Robert Frost write, “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference”? Without exploring the unknown, there is no discovery, and without discovery, no growth.
Nine: Do you see hardship, discomfort, and unease as a test of yourself, a chance to get stronger, or another burden? Maybe what you resist is not a burden, but a gift.
Ten: Do you like a good, glass-rattling, sky-cracking thunderstorm, or want it gone? Sometimes being mesmerized by the majesty of it all prompts fresh thought.
Eleven: Do you wake up optimistic, or always tired? Think more about what good you can do tomorrow as you close your eyes; you’ll be in for a surprise.
Twelve: Do you think you might win the lottery, save a life, learn a new game or skill, see something new today, or have no chance? Hemingway: “The sun also rises.”
Thirteen: Do good memories flood back when you let them, ping pong balls pouring from the old closet, even with regrets, or do you block them? Sometimes looking back, turning up the soil, letting the good earth dirty you, reseeds the garden.
Fourteen: Can you, do you, deliberately step back, just sometimes laugh at life’s absurdity, how society schools in warm currents, no sense of direction, or just accept what others say as true, and true for you? Maybe, you know better.
Fifteen: Is there a voice within that tells you something bigger is ahead, hope and faith always outpace pain and dread? If not, give it time, and make finding that voice your personal mission. Occasionally, silence the clatter-trap world, and listen.
The attitude you carry with you decides a lot, and is shaped by independent thought – that is, the strength of your faith in what you know, in what you believe, and in what you know is not so, all tempered by a willingness to learn.
Independent thought is a great weapon, or better put, impenetrable armor, allowing you to stand atop your own island, and take in the seething sea. It is being true to you, letting you be you, and me be me.
From such things does a healthy life and nation grow – that’s the goal. Independent thought helps the weary regain their balance and fortifies the soul. Don’t let others tell you what you think. Never. Find the sanctity of your own heart and mind. Amazing … what lies within.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
