Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Appreciation

Thoughts. They're what make us, comprise us, substantiate us. Thoughts are the basis for everything we are. "I think therefore I am."Cogito ergo sum: a philosophical Latin statement proposed by René Descartes.

Sometimes we just take it for granted, the ability to think. For the most part, we are all capable of the act, because to think is such an subconscious involuntary biochemical reaction to stimuli, a product of mental activity. Our eyes perceive light, therefore our minds think "light". And as we grow, we associate light to various experiences and our neural pathways grow, forming new connections and complexities in thought. When we perceive light, our minds register the thought "light". Our experiences then associate light to waking up, the days's agenda, the people we're to face, the work we're supposed to accomplish, the expectations, the emotions, the anticipation, the heartbreak, the joy, the dread, so MUCH. All from one little trigger.

Most of us don't realize what we're capable of. For me, the ability to think is an amazing adventure. I generally assert that I am never bored. How can I be bored? My mind can travel over 29348203423 miles in the mere micromillisecondth of time. I time-travel through decades, or step into the future. Memories, dreams. They're everything that our own thoughts create. The ability to experience is the ability to live.

When I hit rock bottom in a rough phase of life, I refuse to indulge in self-pity because I know that relatively I still have it good. When I stop myself from doing something, I know it's usually because of fear. Of self-consciousness. Of doubt. Of something, that if removed, I would be capable of amazing feats and accomplishments. So why should it be there?

We stop ourselves from stepping out of line, we stay behind the boundaries of what is expected of us, what we expect of ourselves, what we do because we know we can because we already have. Mostly, these things are what many people can do because we already have. And most people stop themselves because they won't take the chance in letting themselves go. Some people have no appreciation for the ability we as humans are capable of, many people have no tolerance for enjoying life for what it is. Many people scoff at the arts, the ability to think. They denounce "higher thinking" to the rich and lazy, or to those who play at being intellectuals.

Another of my assertions is that you don't have to be a life-saving surgeon or walk on the moon to be accomplished, to be good and do good and cherish life is far more than so many people are able to do. To have a good heart is something that becomes ridiculed because it doesn't get you anywhere in the hard and rough paced world. But is this really true?

The sky is the limit. Why restrain ourselves? We get pulled down by the drudgery and exhaustion of everyday routines. We don't give ourselves the time to sit and think. Our hormones go into head-biting action, or snarly antipathy.  We're up to here with every single thing. We don't let ourselves just breathe. We don't let ourselves just be. I ran into a quote once, and it said it quite succinctly. I don't remember it verbatim, but it went something along the lines of  "man ruins his health to get money to spend money to get his health back."

I've spent a lot of my life learning to spend my learning to live. I don't mean that in terms of literal education. I mean that I've strived to be able to know as much as I can. I'm also a lazy bum when I choose to be, mind you, but I like to live. And by living I need to think.

In the little downtime I get in between working, doing countless other chores and hobbies, I use my thinking to relax. I also use the little thoughts that get churned up to create and express, be it in the minutes I'm in bed still tossing before sleep settles in, or the moments sitting at the window on the train while the sun hits my face, it might be on the crowded buses while I'm looking at people swearing at each other, or the few minutes it takes walking home at twilight and seeing the stars pop out.

Inspiration is everywhere, and most definitely by our ability to perceive it, it is within us.