Are You Stuck In Your Linear Thinking?

by Rich Brenckman

I learned to think at a very early age. I don’t mean thinking such as the reasoned exploration of deep philosophical themes; it’s more accurate to say that I learned to monitor myself (and others) to see if what I was doing was ok. It seems that when I did things spontaneously there were generally unforeseen consequences, and my parents would then ask, “Did you think before you acted?” Or, “What did you think would happen?” Or, “What were you thinking?” There were several variations to this question, but the word think was always emphasized, as if thinking was truly the answer to the great mysteries of life.

So I began to think before I acted, and think about the consequences, and think things through to make sure I was thinking clearly. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as being spontaneous, but at least I wasn’t getting into so much trouble. Which meant I wasn’t spending so much time alone in my room thinking about why I’d done whatever it was that caused the latest upset. Now I really don’t blame my parents—well, not anymore. I figure after 50 years of blaming someone else, it’s time to give them a break and move on.

The funniest part of thinking so much about life is that I began to miss out on experiencing it (after all thinking happens inside your head, and life happens elsewhere). Here’s what I mean: I would elaborately plan for a future event, and then afterwards I’d minutely dissect how it went—and the actual event itself was kind of anti-climactic. It was as if going on vacation was all about studying the travel brochures beforehand and then critiquing the photos and home movies afterward, while actually spending time at the destination was just a kind of necessary inconvenience.

The next aspect was what I call linear thinking or being reasonable. To me it meant always calculating for the future based on some logical mental formula. When I was 35 I figured I had 30 productive years left, and with the trend of my income and projected inflation rate, I could afford a new house worth ‘x’ in ‘y’ number of years if I saved ‘z’ dollars each month, that sort of thing. Reasonable? Maybe, but it was really kind of depressing. Because it meant the future was always based on things as they were at the moment, and there just wasn’t much inspiration or excitement or hope of having the kind of life I really wanted. Hmmm…

Then in 1990 I discovered Avatar. At the time I was pretty successful; my business was doing well, I owned some nice stuff, and my life looked good from the outside. Let’s see, why was it that Avatar interested me?

Oh, right—I was miserable. Two marriages had ended in divorce, and the current relationship looked like it was headed in the same direction. So it was clear that I needed to make some changes, and I didn’t feel equipped to do it by myself. Funny, but just making the decision to do Avatar helped me begin to feel and experience some things, rather than just thinking about them. And once you begin to feel your life, well—everything changes.

I’m happy to say that Avatar worked, right from the start (and it continues to work, over 12 years later). From the moment the nine-day course began, I learned processes and techniques that had a profound impact on my consciousness and in my life. In fact, on the very first day I learned a tool that helped quiet my thinking; I know it may seem hard to believe, but it was the first of many Avatar miracles for me.

Here’s a final thought: thinking and being reasonable don’t create happiness or satisfaction—they don’t create peace in your heart or peace on the planet. Life-changing and inspiring goals are NOT always reasonable (well, if they were reasonable they wouldn’t be inspiring). Avatar helped me move out of my head and create life from a viewpoint that’s expanding and flowing and spontaneous. Hey, that sounds a little bit like how life was before I began to think so much.

Rich Brenckman, Star’s Edge Trainer, California

 

return to issue 17.1 | return to Journal archives | top of page

All content copyright 2008, Star’s Edge, Inc. EPC is a service mark of Star's Edge, Inc. Avatar®, ReSurfacing®, Thoughtstorm®, Love Precious Humanity®, Enlightened Planetary Civilization® and Star’s Edge International® are registered trademarks of Star’s Edge, Inc. All rights reserved.